


Hidden Obsession

by Jayden123



Category: Beyblade
Genre: AU, Age Difference, F/M, Highschool Drama, Language, M/M, Multi, Sexual References, Slash, Slight future violence, Slow Build, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-12
Updated: 2014-09-22
Packaged: 2018-01-01 07:28:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 21,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1042056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jayden123/pseuds/Jayden123
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>To everyones surprise it ended up being awkward accident prone Takao Kinomiya that came between bestfriends Rei Kon and Kai Hiwatari. </p><p>"Often it is the most deserving people who cannot help loving those who destroy them - Herman Hesse" </p><p>Highschool AU. </p><p>Kai/Takao, Ray/Takao, Michael/Max, Hiro/Tala, Kenny/Hilary, past!Bryan/Tala, past!Emily/Max, onesided!Johnny/Hilary</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Just Give Me A Reason

**Author's Note:**

> Authors Note: I have almost entirely lived in the UK so have NO concept whatsoever of how the educational system works in Japan or almost anything else. So there will be lots of factual errors in this. Let's just assume BeyCity is a small town of sorts near London since only slight characters have Japanese origins here with Rei Takao and Kai so *shrugs and for my sake we're applying the british CIE system here. Ugh. Oh, also I dont like uniforms? So no school uniforms. and Kai's parents are alive. Takao's aren't. Anything else I manage to remember will be mentioned accordingly.

Pairings: Kai/Takao, Rei/Takao, Michael/Max, slowbuild!eventual!Hiro/Tala, possibly Kenny/Hilary, past!Bryan/Tala, onesided!Johnny/Hilary, past!Emily/Max, brief!Brooklyn/Kai

Ratings: T, but mature scenes may appear with their own warnings.

Warnings: Slowbuild. Mild language because teenagers will be teenagers in highschool and use terrible filthy language. Eventual dark themes, violence, sexual references etc, love triangle, slight age difference.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot.

Chapter 1: Just Give Me A Reason

October 2013

(General POV)

Winter had snuck up very quietly this time around, only having indicated its presence initially by the occasional chilly gusts of wind that appeared sometime after late afternoons as September came to a close.

But now it was around mid October and the change in weather could not be denied, Takao mused, noticing Max's nextdoor neighbour Kenny Mathews rush across his threshold, hand's thrust deep into his coat pockets as he fumbled into his car besides his mother.

The dark haired boy thumped his head lightly against the cool glass of the car window, rolling it down slightly to inhale the crisp early morning air. Infront of him, Tala frowned, thumping the wheel with one hand impatiently as he manned the radio with the other. Cringing at the shrill sound of Taylor Swift, the red head swiftly turned it off and turned around to glare at Takao only to get a raised eyebrow.

"You're like an angry little squirrel, seriously Tala. Stop fidgeting. It's been barely a minute." Takao rolled his eyes, shooting his bestfriend a lazy grin as he swiped the lock off the screen of his phone to check the time. 6:27 am. Four hours too early for his brain to be this awake and functional.

"I'm not fidgetng. Do people not understand the value of punctuality anymore? Did Max drown? Did he trip or fall off the bed or something? Because I swear if he gets us a lecture for being tardy this early in the morning I will kill him myself."

"He probably forgot to set his alarm again. These things happen! Probably because someone decided to have a late night Skype session because they couldn't sleep." Takao grinned as his last Angry Bird managed to knock out both the remaining pigs in one go. "Angry Birds is the best.", he mumbled excitedly watching as he replaced his previous highscore, "Angry Birds for King."

"You frighten me. No, really. Why do I associate myself with such a dork again?" Tala sighed dramatically.

"Stop being bitter. It's okay to suck at this game." Tala snorted in retaliation.

"I think I've aged a billion years. Really. Kinomiya, next time if I ever suggest carpooling because it'd be fun, punch me in the dick." The dark haired boy only rolled his eyes in response.

"And deprive you of my sassy company? I would never-Maaaaaax! Hi!" Max only grinned as he squeezed into the passenger seat besides a glowering Tala, reaching back to ruffle Takao's head.

"You guys won't believe what Bilbo was up to! Really I - OWW. Tala, stop pinching me!"

"You know what that was for." The red head only huffed, dodging his head slightly to avoid the flick to his ear as the blonde boy rolled his eyes.

"Bilbo? OH. How is lovely Satan today?" Takao turned off his phone to poke Max at the back of his neck as Tala turned on the engine and pulled into the lane.

"Lovely Satan woke me up by smashing his butt in my face. Stuff of dreams really."

"You could have avoided that if you actually put on your alarm, idiot."

"YOU could stop with the late night Skype sessions so I don't fall asleep before hand and set it properly."

"Children, children. This could all be avoided if we speed up the intervention we planned ahead and convince Grandpa to let me drive already." The red head and blonde turned to stare at him in unison.

"My driving's NOT that bad!" Takao muttered indignantly.

"Tee, I've seen the elderly walk past your car. There's paranoid about safety and then there's you." Max recalled as he dodged yet another jab from the bluentte. "Stop abusing me you weirdo! You're bony."

"You're like some weird ass freak of nature. How can someone eat a whole serving of cheesecake and a half a tub of chocolate chip in one go which, firstly what the fuck, without gaining weight. I've seen you actually LOSE weight." Tala grinned as he turned a corner and BeyCity Memorial High came into view.

"Stop hating on my youthful metabolism. You're projecting." Takao grinned as Tala parked into an empty spot in the Parking Lot, reaching downwards to retrieve his bag before freezing. "Shit. Tala! Bryan."

The aforementioned redhead froze, one hand dangling the car keys from its fingertips, the other hand on the door handle. Swiftly he crouched low on his seat, as Max turned to stare at him outrageously.

"What are you-Hey it's Bryan!" The blonde grinned as he reached forward to wave with one hand at the tall light haired Russian as he crossed the parkling lot beside the hulking blonde figure of Spencer Davis.

"Are you insane?" Tala hissed reaching forward to jab Max in between the ribs.

"Tala, seriously? Remember when we talked about trying to pretend like you have some self-respect whenever you see him?" Takao rolled his eyes, getting out of the car, watching in amusement as a disgruntled Tala followed. He winced slightly as the sudden cold bit at his exposed neck and hands, stuffing the latter deep into his jacket.

"You can judge me you when you decide to date your friend, Takao."

"I used to date Emily?" Max offered as the three of them fell in line as they made their way to the entrance of the school, nodding politely to the chorus of 'hey's' that bombared the blonde. "She's my friend you know."

"You don't count Max. You befriend everyone. Even trees and squirrels. You're Pocahontus." Takao snickered as Max frowned.

"I don't-what-I-what." Both Tala and Takao reached forward to pat him on the arm lightly.

"It's okay though," Tala offered, feeling a little giddy at the realization of being early on noticing the empty hallways, "We love that about you. Like how we love the fact that Takao pretends to know French."

"Hey! Offense. I do know French!" Takao pouted in mock-hurt as the trio bustled past the growing crowd of kids, as Max grinned. "Google Translate doesn't count buddy. No matter how diligantly you use it."

Tala only rolled his eyes as the blunette and blonde started bickering heatedly no soon aferwards. ("That's Spanish!", "Your Mom is Spanish.")

-gl-

Max Tate loved first period. There was something about the early day rush as people bustled here and there, rushing to their lockers and retrieving books for their first lessons, stopping only to say a casual hello. These moments were the busiest as students stopped and crowded together to catch up and socialize; and gossip a bit. The entire hallway seemed so lively and Max, well, loved life.

"I love life!" Max declared to a random passerby as Takao tried to wrestle his Chemistry Text out of his locker, muttering under his breathe whilst Tala leaned against the adjacent lockers, typing away at his phone.

"Life is going to start sucking a little if we don't hurry up." Tala hissed to a distraced Takao who finally managed to squeeze the book out with a cry of triumph.

"You could just go ahead you know, meet up with your nerdy little friends outside class. I really don't want to be the one who made you combust into a ball of fire right now." Max only grinned as Tala scowled.

"I probably should. God knows I wasted enough time with you idiots already. I'm going to go catch up with them."

"Doesn't Bryan have English with you too?" Max mused as Tala froze.

"I uh, probably have a couple of minutes left still. I have to go use the um, restroom, so." With that, the frazzled red haired boy ducked into the adjacent bathroom doors as Max and Takao shared a look, resuming their direction to their first class.

"You do realize he's probably hyperventialting in there right?" The blunette nudged Max as he plugged in his earbuds, smiling softly as the soft music of Cinematic Orchestra began to play. Max reached forward and snagged an ear bud for his piece, nodding approvingly as the music began to flow.

"It's Tala. He'll probably realize he'd be late for class, and no force on earth can stop that boy from being punctual. Even awkward meetings with Bryan post breakup. This is really good! I'm so glad you came out of your Snow Patrol phase."

Takao crinkled his nose, "They weren't a phase. Snow Patrol is my religion. We understand one another." Max only grinned, bumping into his best friends shoulder softly as they entered their class and took a seat at the back.

-gl-

"Hilary, for the love of god, Johnny is not here. You spaz, you're freaking Max out." Takao poked the brunette girl with his fork as she finished scanning the cafeteria before returning to poke at what was supposed to be mash potatoes on her paper plate.

"I'm not searching for Rickards, Takao. Honestly. I was just scanning the crowd for Tala. Unlike you, I promised to help him seek refuge from Bryan." Hilary sniffed delicately as Takao rolled his eyes, returning to his milkshake, scrolling through his iPod.

The blonde in question only shrugged his shoulders as Hilary glanced at him before she deemed him normal. He resumed scrolling through his sketchpad, eyebrows knitted in frustration as he flipped through each page, a mariage of colours bouncing across his vision as Hilary leaned across to take a look.

"These are really amazing Max, don't worry. I'm sure they'll get accepted. I'm part of the Editorial Team. Trust me." The skinny brown haired girl affirmed, fixing her ponytail as Max's frown deepened.

"Class President and beloved teacher's pet just admitted to favourism?" Takao grinned, slurping the remenants of his drink as the last song came to a stop.

"No. I'm just saying I know the kind of work we'll be receiving and Max has it in the bag. We don't really get that much material for The Beetle anyways." Hilary reached forward to grab a chip off Max's plate, pushing away her plate of 'mashed potatoes' as she felt a wriggle from the corner of her eye. "Remind Tala to send in his articles, once again."

"Where is Tala again?" Max sighed as he pushed his sketchpad back into his backpack and swatted Hilary's hand as she attempted to sneak in another fry.

"I texted him a couple of times, he didn't reply. So he probably saw Bryan and is hiding somewhere obscure or something." Takao sighed. "Before it was sort of fun to see him so fidgety, now I'm just concerned."

"Someone should talk to him. Really. It's been a week, he can't just hide away forever." Hilary mused as she glanced at the cafeteria doors on hearing them open once more.

"Since I'm staying afterwards because I have this Art Project to finish up and Tala has his Peer Teaching meeting, I'll try to talk to him. Can't promise anything though." Max nodded at both of them in determination before turning to Takao.

"I'm coming over tonight right? Mom already said it's okay." The bluenette grinned slightly, nodding. "Grandpa's going to try to enroll you into one of his classes again. Stay strong, blonde one."

"He's still caught up on that?" Hilary turned to the dark haired boy. "I feel sort of insulted since he's never offered to teach me."

"He probably doesn't want to offend your feministic beliefs Hil'. Remember that debate last year? Against Oliver Pendraghast? Grandpa was there."

"I remember that! I think its on Youtube." Max snickered as Hilary hit him sharply on the arm. "OWW. Yep. Definitely don't need self defense martial arts classes."

"Yeah, you definitely don't. Maxie however. He's such a delicate flower. Very appealing to human traffickers you know." Takao sighed sagely.

"Trafficking? What?" Hilary muttered in confusion as the boys shared a grim look.

"It's this...talk Grandpa has. I got it when I was 14. Max got it the next year." The blonde in question shuddered ("The images...")

"Your family is really weird Kinomiya." The girl muttered as they all stood up on account of the shrill bell.

-gp-

Max sighed as he tapped his foot anxiously against the cool tiled floor, scrubbing his left sneaker against a crack as he brushed blonde bangs away from his eyes. He checked his phone again and sighed on noticing it had only been a minute since Tala had entered the Principal's office to fix up something with his schedule. Since the pale redhead was his ride home and he was done finishing up his painting for Art Class, the blonde had no other choice but to sit amongst the rows of seats outside the Principal's Office in the Administration Room. The place was a little chilly, Max realized, as he moved to wrap his jacket tighter against his body.

Across the room, the secretary sitting behind a large oval shaped desk, littered with a huge desktop and a stack of papers amongst office supplies arranged haphazerdly, smiled at him sympathetically. It was almost three and Max frowned as he read another text from his mother.

Emergency at work, called into the hospital. Where are you? Left your lunch in the microwave. Call me as soon as you get home. - JudyT.

He looked up and noticed what appeared to be a group of students bustling by the Admin Office's large window. They were probably the kids Tala's Peer Teaching program tutored after school, Max mused. He frowned as one of the students, a tall muscular blond with shaggy hair tucked under a baseball cap entered the otherwise quiet room. Joining him, the Secretory turned to look at him with a polite smile.

The boy just stared at her for a while, quiet as he shoved his hands into his jeans pockets gruffly, before pushing a tiny crinkled slip across the smooth wooden desk towards her. Ms Blake's forehead crinkled a bit as she reached forward and smoothed it out, reading whatever Max assumed was scrawled onto it.

After a pause, she turned to him, lips pressed into a thin line as she motioned for him to take a seat near Max. The blond kid, a baseball jock, Michael, Max recognized, rolled his eyes before dragging his feet and plopping down loudly in a chair. He took off his baseball cup and run his fingers through his hair, messing up the tangled mess even furthur, crouching a little low in the seat.

Max soon realized he was staring and quickly diverted his eyes, clicking on his phone again. (3:10 pm, it read out in bright neon digital ink. Dammit Tala. I swear, if youv'e started discussing your college applications I will kill you.)

It was quiet, safe for the soft clicking of his phone as he quickly resorted to Temple Run to pass by the time. Besides him, only the whirring of the Desktop by Ms Blake accompanied the silence.

Max was too busy cheering inwardly on crossing the twenty thousand metre mark, to notice that someone was trying to talk to him. He startled quickly, almost dropping his phone, as a large rough hand came forward to poke him at his upper arm. Eyes wide and confused, he turned around to stare at Michael who only stared at him in amusement, eyebrow raised.

"So what'd you do?" The jock offered after a long period of silence, his voice gruff and low, laced with boredom and slight annoyance.

"Um, what?" The smaller blonde blinked, confused, returning the jock's mocking raised eyebrow with his own pair of confused ones.

The tall blond stared at him, and his unflinching gaze made Max a little uncomfortable, suddenly feeling self conscious. He twiddled with his phone in his hand as he waited. "What are you in for kid?"

Max blinked. Ah.

"Nothing. I'm just waiting for someone. Do I really look like a delinquant?" He frowned. He looked down at his sneakers and the edges of his sleeves that were splattered by paint. It did look sort of misleading.

Michael only gave him a slow lazy grin, before turning in his seat, away from him. He tapped his fingers alongst an unknown rhythm, stopping at the admonishment from Ms Blake. "So you the principal's kid'?"

"No, that's Zeo?" At the other boy showing no sign of recognition at the mention of the name, Max continued, "Skinny? Dyed green hair-"

"Oh yeh'," Michael smirked, eyes dark with something unreadable. "I remember. Loads of memories with 'im."

Max was now extremely confused. For one thing, Michael Parker, starring athlete and perpetual idol to many, was seemingly interested in conversing with him. Max wasn't even sure the guy knew they were in the same year or knew his name or that in Grade 4 they had been paired up for a science project for the Science Fair (for whom Max and his Dad had built the most amazing paper mache volcano but at which they later had gotten disqualifed because Michael had ended up punching a bragging classfellow in the nose.).

Before his brain could give into spontaneous combustion, Tala, by some miracle, suddenly appeared from the door to the Principal's office, followed by the man himself. The red head only rolled his eyes at the blonde's glare. Max immediately stood up as Principal Stephen nodded at him, before giving a frosty glare to the jock sitting in the seat besides him.

"Parker. Let's not waste my time. Inside, quick." Michael only rolled his eyes, before getting up noisely and following the older man inside the room. It was only when they both left and he waited as Tala packed up his documents inside his backpack, that Max noticed the baseball cap sitting idly on the desk.

He stared at for a few seconds longer than what was necessary until Tala shook his shoulder slightly.

"Back to earth, Space Case? Let's go. You're wasting time." With a roll, Tala proceeded to walk ahead, ignoring Max's indignant 'Hey!' as the shorter blonde hurried to follow.

-gp-

"So tell me again why Max thinks you're swapping sexual favours with the Princie for good test scores?" Hilary giggled as the pixelated appearence of Tala through her laptop screen spluttered in frustration. Takao, directly below Tala snickered, as he blew away the bangs from his eyes. Behind him, Hilary could see Max typing away at the bluenette's desktop, giggling away to himself.

"Maximus needs to stop watching all those soap opera's." Takao grinned, reaching backwards to poke the blonde with his sock clad foot. Max only wriggled out of reach, cackling wildly as Lana DelRay blared from Takao's speakers.

"You guys shame me." Tala muttered as Hilary rolled her eyes at the two younger boys actions, applying a fresh coat of nail polish to her nails.

"Who's taking care of Bilbo right now?" Tala mused as he scanned through the English essay the brunette girl had sent through to proof read.

"Maybe your Dad sat on him? One can only dream." Takao sighed as he turned to return Hilary's judgemental gaze.

"Cat's are delicate lovely creatures. You are a psycho Kinomiya."

"I dare you to say that again after you've survived that henious witch's rage moods. And remember when he ruined my surprise birthday thing last year by getting stuck in the cat flap?" Takao huffed. "Speaking of moody witches, Tala..." The blunette grinned as he recieved the red head's pixelated middle finger.

"I already invoked the 'no Bryan at Skype fourway' rule. Don't disrespect the rule. Takao."

"Yes, but as the initiator of these Skype fourway's, I call voting rights. All in favour of an emotional heart to heart, give me a pixel hand wave." Takao protested.

In response, the blunette recieved two blurry hand movements accompanying his own, and a warning glare from the red head.

"Look. I don't want to talk about it. I'm going to say what I told Max already but since my friends are nosy, overly concerned, boderline annoying internet banshees I'll say it again. It's awkward and I'm awkward and it's a phase. It'll pass, and when it's done I'll be alright."

There was a silence, only disturbed by the angry clicking of Max and the laptop in the background before Takao sighed.

"Fair enough. Just so you know, Bryan approached me in Math." This caused both Hilary and Tala to snap their eyes back from their assigments to the dark haired boy, frowning heavily back at them through the screen.

Tala was quiet for a second, his ice blue eyes flickering with an unreadable emotion, before he started hesitatingly in a tone Takao rarely heard from him. "What'd he say? Did he mention me?"

"No. We suddenly realized we had so much in common and decided to ditch you and became best friends and made plans to skip into the sunset tomorrow. Of course he mentioned you." Takao rolled his eyes before sighing. " He was kind of upset. You're sending confused signals. He was hoping you would talk to him tomorrow at lunch?" He turned to give Tala an awkward apologetic glance and got a frown in return

"Can we focus on someone else' love life? Like how Takao has literally never dated anyone."

To Takao, this immediately felt like something the rest wanted to discuss in depth because the traitors that everyone were, immediately popped their heads, including Max, and gave the bluenette knowing looks.

Said boy ran a hand through his hair. "Max is having an affair with his paintings. And Hilary's sort of stalking Johnny Rickards. And you guys want to talk about me?"

"You DO listen to an often lot of Snow Patrol." Max mused as he dodged an elbow from a protesting Takao.

"Firstly, I'm not stalking anybody. Seriously." Hilary paused to blow at her nails. "Mrs. Archibald assigned him to help me with The Beetle and I'm just making sure he doesn't slack off. And secondly, Max dated Emily. No matter how much of a bitch ("spirited!"), she was. You've never dated anybody."

Takao spluttered. "Well-that-I-uh. This is stupid." He flushed. "I've just never had time for that sort of stuff. What with helping out at the cafe and Grandpa and Hiro, remember my brother? Tall dark and insane, making sure I have no social life whatsoever." He frowned slightly, as if just realizing that amongst all of his quirky group of friends, he was the only one who technically hadn't ever dated anyone. He'd actually never been on a date even. The bluenette couldn't seem to find the time between managing his friends drama and his part time job at Tate's Cafe, owned by Max's dad, and his family's irritating overprotective behaviour.

Hilary stared at the other boy for a while, humming softly."I could help you out, you know. You're not that low on the social ladder, Tee. I'm sure we could find you a nice guy."

"Hey whoa whoa. Since when has this turned into 'lets pity Takao' , you harpies. I'm perfectly fine with the way things are." The boy shrugged, ignoring Tala's questioning eyebrow and Hilary's knowing stare, "When it'll happen, it'll happen. End of. In the meanwhile, I'm happy to fill the asexual plant role for the group." Max grinned at this.

"And you're really good at it too! Sexiest plant I've ever seen." The blonde only received a snort in return.

-gp-

Takao frowned as everyone rushed to occupy the pair of stools set up across each station in the Chem Lab, scanning the crowd for a familiar mop of blonde hair. He quickly climbed onto one stool, arranging his bag over the other as if making an understood claim. Taking out his phone, he quickly sent in a text.

Hey where are you? o.O Lab's already started. - Takao

a lttle sck 2day. mite cum in late. :c - Max

/3 I'll drop by after work today. Back to awkward loner Takao it is for now. Should be fun. - Takao

At a deliberate cough and a heated look from his Sir, Takao immediately smiled apologetically and turned off his phone, tucking it back into his bag. Reaching forward, he rummaged into his messy bag, grinning as he found a pen whilst the sir started scribbling the instructions for today's Practical. Luckily, it was yet another Titration which Takao was familiar with. Whilst Chemistry was extremely boring and useless, Organic getting no love from him whatsoever, the subject was something that the blunette surprisngly understood well. He was the reigning Chem King amongst his friends, something he knew bothered Hilary and Tala to no end.

He was already filling in his details ontop of the worksheet for the day so he didn't notice the sudden opening of the lab doors as someone bursted through, panting slightly as they tried to catch their breath.

"Sorry, Sir. My car broke down. I came as fast as I could." Rei Kon grinned apologetically, leaning against the doors as he struggled to regain his breathing. The class stopped to spare him a few seconds longer than necessary but it was only because it was Rei, good guy extraordinairre, star of the track team, Head of the Photography Club, and best friend of Kai Hiwatari.

Takao turned to spare him a glance as he struggled to pipette NaOH into the flask. He did share three of his four classes with the dark haired Chinese, but he couldn't recall ever exchanging even a 'hello' with him.

Rei was a senior just like him, but light years ahead of Takao in terms of social standing probably because of the fact that he was the childhood friend and perhaps the only real confidant to Kai, the school's star football player and Student Body President. The chinese was rarely seen talking to anyone else outside of the grey haired Hiwatari and his cousins Lee and Mariah Ling with whom he resided with; his Uncle being his legal guardian. (Hilary was the worst gossip in the world, and Takao was even worse because he didn't mind listening to whatever she had to tell.). The tall, dark haired boy stood there, hands flicking over the strap of his beg as he eyed his teacher silently, amber eyes flickering between him and the rest of the class blatantly staring at him.

The older man nodded at him curtly, motioning for him to take his seat, and Rei nodded and rushed to occupy his usual seat next to the imposing figure of BeyCity's own Prince, Kai. Said boy only raised a cool slate coloured eyebrow in response to his best friends fumbling and grunted as he recieved a sly grin in response. Besides him, Takao could hear a girl try to control a giggle and only rolled his eyes.

Kai Hiwatari was probably the most talked about student at BeyCity Memorial; perhaps even outside across BeyCity. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he was the son of Hitosh Hiwatari, a successful businessman and CEO to a flourishing pharmaceutical company and even more importantly, grandson to Voltiare Hiwatari, the very well known and respected Chief of Surgery at BeyCity National where Max's mother Judy and Tala's father worked at. It was also the Hospital both Takao and his brother Hiro, in his final years of medical school, aspired to work at; something he knew he shared with Kai. If the extreme wealth and popularity wasn't enough, the fact that Kai was tall dark haired and aesthetically appealing to the eye and the star of the football team, the only sport BeyCity truly only ever cared about, as well as Student Body President with an academic record to rival Tala's was enough for people to delegate him to the status of a God.

Takao hadn't ever really talked to him. From what he could tell, Kai only ever really came across as aloof and cold. Maybe a little emotionally constipated. But he never gave it any thought; not really one to make assumptions based on nothing. He shook his head, focusing back on the task he hoped to finish before the bell rang. He hated leaving his work incomplete.

Being the only student without a lab partner, the blunette realized he was a little behind everyone else; struggling to finish the practical and fill out the appropriate readings and calculations on the sheet. He was furiously scribbling away across the last question, clicking away at his calculator when he felt someone bump into his shoulder roughly as they tried to pass him by. The blunette swore as his flask tilted and fell with a thud against the tiled counter, thankfully not breaking into a million glass peices. The small amount of liquid that it contained spilled over the counter and slightly over Takao's worksheets.

Brushing over the apologetic girls pleas with a soft 'it's alright', he quickly rummaged through his lab coat's pockets for a tissue, furiously trying to clean away his belongings from the mess.

He blinked as a wad of clean tissue papers appeared in his vision as a tan hand slowly splayed them over the growing stain. He looked up in confusion to see the bright smiling face of Rei, who only nodded at him in return.

"Thought you could use a little help. You seemed a little overwhelmed." Takao blinked before snorting slightly.

"Hardly, I usually manage like this on a daily basis. My lab partners absence doesn't really make a difference. But thanks." He smiled softly at him, as he took the remaining tissues from Rei's hands, dabbing them gently against the corners of his worksheet.

The tall dark haired boy only stared at him in question before nodding once again, "Well, I'll leave you to it. Be careful of rogue limbs." The amber-eyed chinese grinned as Takao rolled his eyes. "See you around Takao." Which startled the bluenette.

"Wait, you know my name?"

Rei nodded at him slowly, unsure as to why Takao sounded so confused. "Three of our subjects are the same and we are in all of the same classes. Wait, do you know mine?"

"Yeah. Seriously?" Takao grinned slightly as Rei flushed, scratching his arm slightly.

"Dumb question, huh." Which got him another amused stare from Takao before they settled into an awkward silence; the kinds of which the blunette really hated. They stared at each other for a fraction of a second; even though it seemed longer to Takao, as everyone else bustled around them, finishing up their work.

"Well um. I have my work. So. Yeah. Thankyou. For the tissues." Fuck. Takao cringed as he mumbled through his words trying to come up with something witty and un-boring as Rei raised an eyebrow at him before chuckling slightly.

This is why he had no friends. His conversational skills could rival his athletic ability. Which was in negatives.

"I'll see you around." And with a nod, Rei left, leaving Takao to blink at his retreating back before sighing.

Hilary, I need a personality. ASAP. - Takao

are you really texting me in class? ME? I raised you better. Now shush. I'm trying to get this Fund Raiser on track. - Hilary

With a frustrating sigh, Takao turned around, ready to finish up as quick as possible and sneak in a snack before Biology. There was no better therapy for inner teenage angst than food.

-gp-

"My mom misses you. More than me. Literally." Hilary rolled her eyes as Tala gave out a short laugh besides her as they made their way through the growing crowd, aiming for the Cafeteria. The brunette girl frowned as she opened her phone to see that there was, yet again, no reply from Hiwatari over the ammendents to the schedule for their Fund Raiser. She huffed as Tala manuevered her by a grip on her elbow through a group of rowdy boys near the Art Department.

"I can't help if my sunny disposition and sparkling personality appeals to her more than your neurotic ass. When was the last time you actually set down to eat a proper family lunch with her?"

"Yesterday! Really. I even helped her lay out the dishes and everything. Honestly. Don't people realize how exhausting being Class President is?" Tachibana crinkled her nose as they both got in line behind the lunch lady's counter. The sharp smell of meat made her stomach churn.

Tala looked at her in question. "What, Max isn't converting you to his vegan ways is he?" Hilary only shook her head.

"Just a sudden bout of nausea. Which is pretty normal considering what they serve us for 'food' around here." Tala nodded, lips drawn in a thin line.

They both balanced their trays as they made their way to their usual seats. The absence of Max or Takao made him realize just how long it had been since it'd been just him and Hilary. Whilst Hilary had been the one who grew up with Takao, being in the same lane, and it was Tala's father and Max's mother Judy who worked together; Hilary and him were the ones who had always clicked. Well before Max and Takao met at the former's Dad's cafe. The sudden bout of nostalgia made the corners of the redhead's mouth curl up in a smile.

Hilary poked at him with her plastic spoon.

"You're smiling to yourself again. It's creepy." Tala only snorted as he attempted to dig into today's special.

"How's The Beetle going? I swear I have no idea how you're jugging all of this together Hil'. Do you even sleep? I bet you dream about planning events, don't you?"

Hilary frowned. "That was one time okay. And it was your birthday party, you ungrateful turd. And it was amazing." She sniffed as Tala laughed out loud.

"Tell your Mom I'll come over soon this week. I miss her cooking." He smiled softly. Neither him nor his Dad were culinary gods, and with his Dad being out at work most of the time, they mostly resorted to takeouts more times than Tala felt comfortable with.

"Careful. Once you come inside, she'll never let you leave." Hilary snorted. "She still plans our wedding, do you know that?" The pale boy huffed.

"Isn't it about time you told her I'm gay? I thought she knew about Bryan?" The brunette only shrugged.

"Besides I can't believe your Mom doesn't know about your unhealthy and boderline illegal thing for Johnny." The girl spluttered, cheeks growing hot.

"I do not-what-I-Tala!" She got a knowing look in return; and sometimes she hated her bestfriend for using her own tricks against her.

"He's just helping me out at The Beetle. Rickards is a dumb jock, you insult my taste clueless one. I just don't want him ruining my work."

"Don't you mean Kenny's?" Tala grinned as he ducked to avoid a swipe.

"You take that back, bitch. I have just as much say in the matter as Kenneth." She rolled her eyes at the mention of the skinny brown haired bespectacled boy she worked under. The only reason she hadn't gotten the Chief position was because last year's Editor-in-Chief had had it out for her.

"Speaking of the guy, I have to go. I promised to meet up with him before lunch ended. Rei sent in some of his club's shots and we want to go over them with the Princie." Tala only nodded in response as Hilary moved to pack up her belongings. She eyed the uneaten plate of food distastefully. "Home-made lunches it is."

"Preach!" Tala called out after her, grinning slightly, as she moved to exit the large hall.

He was just contemplating leaving his own tray and seeking out Takao who was probably stuck at his Biology Lab overtime. They both had Math next so seeking his other friend out wouldn't be completely pointless. Tala was just getting up and heaving his bag over his shoulder when his phone buzzed.

Hey. Can we talk? - Bryan.

The readhead frowned, and stared at the message for a couple of seconds. He rubbed his thumb over the screen a few times, and the option to reply popped up. Tala stared at the screen for a few seconds longer, biting his lower lip. He sighed as he quickly typed in a few words and closed the screen.

Can't. Meeting up with Tee before Math. Maybe tomorrow? - Tala

With a determined sigh, Tala continued forward, ignoring the lingering sense of something heavy along the lines of guilt at the back of his head.

He wasn't ready; not yet.

-gp-

Takao groaned as he moved his way past the front door, dropping his bag by the side heavily. Taking off his shoes, he trotted across the hallway, feet sinking into the soft carpet, as he turned to enter the living room. His Grandfather, Ryuuji Kinomiya, lay across the couch, eyes closed; hands propped up behind his head.

With a soft sigh, the bluenette crossed by him into the kitchen; grabbing a bowl and a carton of milk and plopping both near a box of CocoPops. There was a time to eat healthy, and then there was a time to get a sugar rush before his shift at work started. He eat his cereal quietly, except for the sound of his chewing, as he took in the silence of his home.

The Kinomiya residence hadn't ever been the most lively of places, unlike say Max's. It resembled more of Tala's households. But unlike Tala, whose Dad sought his work as a way to try to cope with his wife leaving him and his growing distance with his only son, Takao's home had always been like this, even before his parents death when he was seven. They were renowend archaeologists who travelled the world wherever their career and passion took them, managing to make a trip once a year; delegating the rest of their communication through Skype calls and postcards. Cards that Takao had soon stopped anticipating once the messages had started to stray from being warm and full of love to formal and curt; a necessity if not anything else. So he was used to it, he admitted, being alone.

It got better when his older brother visited from his University every weekend to torment him into oblivion; Hiro had a knack for cheering up Takao even when he didn't realize himself that he needed a lift up, despite being overprotective irritating and boderline controlling. His brother was his family; always had been, just like his Grandfather. And he'd always love both of them to his hearts content.

There was a time when Takao would have wanted more. He would have complained about the injustice of everything when he saw how Taro Tate doted on his son, or how Judy did everything she possibly could to make her family happy despite her hectic job which she loved very much. How Mrs Tachibana struggled to get her daughter to spend more time with her when her husband left early in the morning and came back late at night from the Bank exhausted and only wanting to sleep. How Hilary sometimes shrugged off two loving parents unknowingly when Takao never got the chance to have even one.

But he had a family, unlike Tala. Tala with a broken home and negligent father who only saw his cheating wife when he looked back at his redheaded son. Tala who drove himself into his studies to make his father notice him, acknowledge him; want him. Tala who for all his logistics and thinking, couldn't fathom how a mother of all people couldn't want her own son. Because wasn't it a mothers love that was unparalled? It was unfathomable to him. Like some equation he couldn't solve. An equation that he deemed incomplete. Tala who still tried, even after his father more or less shunned him when he came out, or when he told him he wanted to pursue a career in Writing rather then the Accountant Mr Ivanov wanted.

Takao knew what he had lost, but his loss was never that great, for how could he miss something that was never there to begin with? So sometimes when he noticed the silence, the emptiness, he felt angry. Felt something curl in the pit of his stomach, something inside of him knawing, for acceptance, for attention. For someone to want him. Someone not bound by the obligations of family. Someone who put him first. Someone who didn't amount his worth to meaningless one minute calls a year and a handful of empty postcards.

But sometimes, he saw his Grandfather and his brother, and while it wasn't ideal, he knew it was as good as it was going to get. And he felt lucky. Because at least he had something; and that was enough for him.

His phone buzzed, drawing Takao out of his musing. Putting down his spoon in his empty bowl, Takao drew it out, and gave out a burst of laughter.

(") look! itsa penguin. my emo snses wer tnglin. u ddntt txt me whn u gt home. stp being moody. i wll punch u. i will empty ur fridge whn im over nxt. - Max

Yes, he was happy. More than he remembered ever being growing up.

-gp-

"Takao! Look Hil. It's Takao!" Max giggled from beneath the cocoon of sheets he was bundled in. Beside him, on his bed, Hilary only grunted from the Skype call screen, scribbling away at her notebook and mumbling about 'budget cuts and asshole bosses'.

"Heeey. Your Dad said you were awake. My shift just ended." Takao grinned as he moved to take a seat on the edge of the bed. Max poked him with his foot through the layer of sheets.

"What's up? Missed me today? How'd you survive? I bet you were lost without me. Lost."

Takao only snorted. "I have a new lab partner." The blonde gasped dramatically and glared.

"How could you do this to me. Who is this punk." The blunette laughed as his friend made a threatening motion with his hands.

"You're 5'4, 110 pounds wet, dork. Worse thing you can do guilt someone to death." He recieved a damp pillow in return.

"I sincerely hope this is wet because you just took a shower. Or this friendship is over." Max only cackled in response.

"So Hilary mentioned that there's this party Johnny's throwing over the weekend." Max started, and Takao snorted.

"Oh did she?" PixelHilary only huffed in response. ("Don't even start." Which got her a grin in return.)

"So I think we should go!" This got the blonde a questionable look from Takao.

"Parties aren't really our scene. Especially since Tala wants to disappear into the earth whenever Bryan's around. Need we forget Hiro comes over on the weekends?"

"Just think about it Kinomiya. I'm sure Hiro'll understand once he realizes I'll be going too. I always was the moral compass of you dorks." Hilary casually mentioned, scratching at a cheek. Beside Max, Bilbo pawed at his laptop slowly which caused Takao's eye to twitch.

"I'll ask Mom to pick both of you up if Tala decides to not go because he's lame like that and officially a hermit." She continued after a pause.

"Yeah because that's super cool." Max huffed. "Maybe we can ask Kenny? He's like right next door. I think he has his license too."

"Stick figure Kenny? Really?" Hilary pursued her lips in thought, and then shrugged. "Who knew."

Takao sighed as turned to see Max and Hilary looking at him imploringly. And then he saw an image of Tala with Bryan, and Johnny, and as weird as it is, Rei lastly. Why was he designated the role of wallflower all of a sudden? Sure he didn't think he had time to date, metaphorical group asexual plant and everything, but he deserved to have a social life. Unlike Max and Hilary who were reasonably well known, and even Tala who had Bryan and Spencer, how many people did he know?

"Sure, I'm in." To which Max let out of battle cry of victory and Hilary immediately went into a rant of what she was going to wear. Takao grinned, suddenly feeling light and elated on the inside.

Tala, I think I'm fun now. LOL. - Takao

Ssh. No time for ridiculous untruths. Econ test tomorrow. - Tala

Takao only rolled his eyes in response and made to turn off the screen when he noticed a light notification popup in the status bar; it was from FaceBook.

Confused, because he wasn't really active on there a lot except when Max forced him to wallpost each other because of some weird 'best friend right of passage', he clicked on it. Gazing at the bright screen, the corners of the stunned dark haired boys lips turned up into a soft smile.

You have one new friend request from: Rei Kon  
If you know this person, click Confirm, otherwise Ignore.

-gp-

Chapter 1, end.


	2. My Own or I'll Follow You Deep Sea River

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rei and Kai's epic broship, Introduction to Hiro, Some forward growth for Tala and Bryan and a sneak at their past, Kenny has more lines, Johnny gets lines, and another Michael/Max scene

**Hidden Obsession.**

**Summary:** Because to everyone's surprise it ended up being awkward accident prone Takao Kinomiya that came between BeyCity Memorial High's popular best friend duo Rei Kon and Kai Hitawari. Love triangles, drama, and shenanigans ensue. Highschool AU. (Rewrite)

 **Pairings:** Kai/Takao, Rei/Takao, Michael/Max, slowbuild!eventual!Hiro/Tala, possibly Kenny/Hilary, past!Bryan/Tala, onesided!Johnny/Hilary, past!Emily/Max, brief!Brooklyn/Kai

 **Ratings:** T, but mature scenes may appear with their own warnings.

 **Warnings:** Slowbuild. Mild language because teenagers will be teenagers in highschool and use terrible filthy language. Eventual  **dark themes** ,  **violence, sexual references** etc, love triangle, slight age difference, slight attempt at  **non-con** ,

 **Disclaimer:** I own nothing except the plot.

 **Authors Note:** I have almost entirely lived in the UK so have NO concept whatsoever of how the educational system works in Japan or almost anything else. So there will be lots of factual errors in this. Let's just assume BeyCity is a small town of sorts near London since only slight characters have Japanese origins here with Rei Takao and Kai so *shrugs and for my sake we're applying the british CIE system here. Ugh. Oh, also I dont like uniforms? So no school uniforms. and Kai's parents are alive. Takao's aren't. Anything else I manage to remember will be mentioned accordingly.

 **CHAPTER 2 - My Own** or  **I'll Follow River Sea Baby**

( _General POV_ )

**October 2013**

Max huffed and he readjusted the strap of his sagging bag once more over his shoulder, trying to keep it steady as he passed through the early morning first period crowd, praying to god it didn't snap before he reached his locker because that was the sort of embarrassment he did not really need given the day he had been having so far.

Bilbo had been particularly moody last night, the numerous scratches across the blond's pale forearms were a testament to that, and had ended up scratching up his Math assignment; the very one that had a lot of marks riding on for the upcoming test because Murphy's Law or whatever. On top of that, Takao had to leave his shift because his Grandpa had managed to trip and hurt this left hip significantly and Tala had dropped them off at BeyCity National, leaving Max to take his shift right after his own early afternoon one. The shift hadn't been a particularly nice one too boot, with one customer who even ended up shouting at him for mixing his order which to be honest was a genuine mistake. Wednesday afternoons were always killer at Tate's Cafe.

He managed to lug the what-appeared-to-be-resembling-a-rag-more-than-an-actual-bag bag to his locker with a grunt and grinned triumphantly at himself and if anyone asked he would totally deny fist pumping the air in victory.

He was only just done dropping off his sketchbook and his Sketching tools, and was rummaging around for his copy of the Lab he had missed last Monday (Takao had managed to get him a copy his saintly other half that he was) amongst the mess of his locker when he heard, or rather felt, the presence of another body lean against the rows of lockers next to him. Their shadow cast down on him as he turned slightly, with a curious gaze, one hand holding a packet of Lays he had managed to discover whilst the other removed the worksheet that he had been looking for.

Michael stood there, arms crossed against his well built chest, (huge biceps pushing against the sleeves of his soft-looking red tee which Max couldn't help but noticing, for uh research purposes obviously. The baseball team regimen seemed quite impressive, yep), a red-and-blue baseball cap dangling loose on his head upon messy blonde locks as the jock turned his gaze onto the artist, green eyes regarding him impassively. His mouth was slack, and drawn together loosely, along with his posture, as he continued to stand there in silence as Max fidgeted, rubbing his ratty but very beloved Converse against the tiled floor.

He cleared his throat after a while. "Uh. Hi! Hello. Can I help you?" The blonde's eyebrows furrowed as he closed his locker and started stuffing the worksheets into his bag, heaving it up onto his bag, it having become significantly lighter. Michael just stood there in turn, silently assessing him, eyes running up and down before focusing onto his paint splattered shoes (they gave it character!).

"Sooo. Is this about you needing uh lunch money or something? I swear you're just wasting your time. Which could be a sign, because seriously you don't need to be buying anything this Cafeteria's got cooking for us. I use the term cooking loosely, very very loosely. Like I'm pretty sure yesterdays mashed potatoes actually moved. Or what looked to be mashed potatoes. Greta's always tricky with her presentation-"

His babble got interrupted midway by a snort from the taller blonde as his mouth opened into a soft grin, leaning forward into Max's personal bubble a little.

"Calm down, dork. And relax, I'm not after your money or shit, that's not your purpose today." He grinned, all white teeth, and for a moment Max couldn't help but furrowing his eyebrows confused and transfixed because that wasn't a totally unattractive grin, which what?, and most importantly, those were some really nice teeth. Max may need to find this Dentist. He was very impressed.

He huffed. "Well, okay. Can't blame a dude for you know, assuming. We're like one common love interest from being a cliche teen high school movie. You know," He waved an arm between them, "The jock and the sassy artist.." He coughed again, as Michael turned to just stare at him bemusedly. "Well now that this is...done, and I've filled my daily dose of verbal diarrhoea before first period, which I'm pretty sure I missed, I'd best be going."

"It's polite to offer a name, Blue."

Blue? Max looked down at his Angry Birds tee, which he totally 'borrowed' from Takao but was going to return eventually no matter how much it looked better on him because blue hair and a blue shirt was a fashion no no. Sometimes Max worried about Takao.

"Well you didn't offer up yours as well. So. There. And you did approach me you know. With the whole leaning against the locker..stuff. Yeah. For fortunately not-so-nefarious reasons which is surprising because I had such a shitty day I swear. I woke up and my cat was sitting on my face and-"

"It's Michael." Aforementioned boy just grinned as he pushed away from the lockers, grabbing his own bag sitting on the floor a few inches away from their feet. Max wondered why he didn't notice it before, he was pretty sure it was the only bag in existence that looked worse for wear than even his. He felt oddly annoyed. Hobo Bag Owner was  _his_ thing.

"I'm Max. Max Tate." They just stared at each other, and Max began feeling increasingly uncomfortable. He had never felt this awkward before. Silence wasn't his thing, at all. What was even happening.

"I figured us delinquents should at least be on a first name basis, y'know?" The older boy just shrugged his ridiculously broad shoulder, not that Max was staring oh-fuck he was, before his words registered to him.

"I'm  _not_ a delinquent!" Michael only rolled his eyes and turned to walk away, lifting two fingers as a salute.

"Whatever you say Blue."

Max could only gape at his retreating back in silence.

What.

* * *

"And he just walks up to me all smooth and suave like Takao when he dressed up as 007 for that one Halloween minus the whole tripping and bashing his head against the washroom sink.. ("Hey! That...was planned.") It was super weird."

Tala only grunted in reply, his head poured over a thick English textbook, two highlighters in one hand as he went to battle on yet another page. Hilary sat next to the red head, munching on her salad because she was going through some weird dieting phase yet again which Max was pretty sure would last until she got a whiff of the Pizza his Dad was making for them when they came over later tonight. They were all so so weak.

The brunette was busy texting away on her iPhone, eyebrows drawn into a furious line, cheeks flushed red and eyes hard and focused as her thumbs tapped away incessantly only pausing to wave a hand in their direction to pretend that she was listening. Apparently Kai had bailed on yet another one of the Fund Raiser Committee meetings and they were having a serious budget crisis or something.

Takao was sitting opposite to Hilary and next to him, head propped on one hand, elbow resting against the Cafeteria desk. One earbud dangled from the joint extension as music blasted from it and the other end, currently in the blunette's ear.

He only flicked Max's ear in response and reached out to steal some curly fries. If Max wasn't so indignant and confused because of a certain baseballer, he would probably have gutted his best friend. That could be done at a later time, still.

"Making new friends, Maxie? Turned to the life of crime? Ooh." Takao only grinned as Max shoved a fry at his face.

"I don't really get his deal to be honest. Like, I saw him a couple of days back. He had Zeo in a trashcan. Still don't understand how I'm still intact." Bullies weren't really his thing, but at one point during middle school he apparently was theirs. Not that Michael himself had done anything. They hadn't ever talked even except for the 4th Grade Science Project fiasco, and Max was pretty sure even then their one conversation consisted mostly of grunts and one-worded replies from Michael. Then again, he did have a rather intense black eye when the blonde had tried to engage him in a conversation. About morals ...and ethics. Okay fine a lecture. So he mom'ed him that one time. Max had a phase.

"Maybe he wants you to do his homework? He's in Math with us right?" Takao mused as he turned to poke Hilary, grinning as she swiped a hand against his shoulder roughly, carefully dodging her long nails.

"But its Math! Like. I'm pretty sure me doing his homework would like get him marks in minus." He rolled his eyes, poking at what was today's lunch. With a grin, he managed to take out the packet of Lays he had found in his locker. They seemed...fresh enough.

"Children, I'm trying to focus here, could you not?" Tala glared, an angry red eyebrow twitching as Max and Takao only grinned.

"You studied for this test like a week ago. And I'm pretty sure you gave us an extended thesis on the novels main themes last night when I made the mistake of calling you for help in Math" Max pouted, no wonder he slept in. Tala's nerdy talk always put him into a deep slumber. It was very very potent. The redhead only gave them a frown and returned his eyes to his book.

Hilary sighed and slammed her iPhone onto the table harshly, pushing back against her seat roughly, sipping at her Mango Juice. Takao eyed the straw pityingly.

"What's up Bridezilla? Did Johnny not come in today? I think Max has added him on his Facebook. I'm sure we could get you a fix-" He ducked at the fist that was directed at him as Max grinned in return.

"It's true! I've added mostly everyone. I have no boundaries which somehow doesn't bother me." The blunette only patted his head in response.

"Its stupid fucking Hiwatari. Kai missed another meeting yesterday because he had an important training session for a match that is a month and a half away. And today the ass didn't even bother coming. I've been trying to text him since." She stabbed viciously at her salad; Max and Takao could only wince at the brutal display and edged away slowly.

"Hey, aren't you like bros with Rei now? You could ask him where Kai is." Max nudged Takao who only stared at him with wide ways.

"Uh, no. Why uh what. What makes you say that?" Hilary turned to look at him.

"Yeah, like he added you on Facebook the other day right? Did you accept?" Takao only frowned. "Ohmygod. You  _rejected_ his request! Dramaaa." Max cackled as Tala flicked the back of his head.

"Like you wouldn't have re-sent a request to him if I did. I think you use my account even more than I do. But no, yeah. I haven't. Talked to him and stuff. He just added me. We're not  _bros._ "

"We're all really proud of you, though. Your first self-initiated friendship Kinomiya, there may be hope for you after all, you awkward plant." Hilary grinned slightly as Takao scowled.

Her phone pinged after a while and her eyes darkened as she huffed and unlocked her phone with a swipe.

"That's the Princie. His Highness has graced us with his presence." Hilary gave a very impressive eyeroll and huffed as she got up and gathered her things. "You two make sure this one doesn't hyperventilate and explode." With a pointed look at Tala, the Class President walked away.

Tala only grunted as he started gathering his books into his bag.

"Hey Tal', I think that's Bryan." Takao raised his eyebrows at the lavender haired eye staring over at their table. Tala went stiff as he finished packing up, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

"I uh, yeah we're supposed to have a talk after the test. Or something." Max and Takao both turned to stare at him.

"And uh, are you going to?" Max started slowly.

"I don't know. Maybe. I guess we have to start talking eventually. I have him in English and there's this project coming up. Spencer's already paired up with someone. And Hil's paired with Johnny because apparently Mrs Archibald wants her to help him out. (Takao snorted at this with an eyeroll). And I don't really want to work with some stranger because I like to know the style of my project partner and you can't really have a good work dynamic if both parties don't understand each other strength's and weaknesses and-"

"Tala, breathe. We get it, really." Takao grinned softly. "You don't have to talk about like  _you_   _two,_  just start talking in general. You're never going to get over this phase."

Tala only nodded as he stared at Takao's bowl of fries silently. Max tilted his head at the redhead.

"Just to be clear - you  _are_ over this right? Because-" Tala only nodded his head rapidly before sighing.

"This is too much drama for one lunch period, we really needed to change it up."

"But Talaaaa, you love the emotional bonding. It makes you all mushy and gushy on the inside. Doesn't it?" Max waggled his eyebrows and grinning at the irritated huff and flick on the forehead. Takao just laughed at the both of them and sneaked away yet another fry from Max's pile.

"So we've still got ten fifteen minutes left, what's on your mind?" Takao shrugged as he placed the other earbud in the blondes hand. Max rolled his eyes.

"You know how I feel about The Fray." The blonde sniffed, earning a punch on the shoulder from Takao. " _How To Save A Life_ is a masterpiece!"

"Whatever you say Meredith Grey." Takao was about to retort when he felt someone cough behind them. Kenny Mathews stood there, lunch tray in hand, blinking at them nervously as they both looked back at the brunette.

"Um, I was a little late to lunch.  _The Beetle_  and everything. It's the school magazine uh, which you probably know because you're Hilary's friends right? Not that I've been stalking or observing her or anything. No no, not at all, its just a observation, scientific reasons above anything, and yeah, there weren't any seats and I saw your table but the scary redhead was there and I didn't know to come or not but he left and-" Kenny stopped as Takao and Max only blinked at him in unison before he turned bright red.

Max grinned at him slightly. " That's one hell of a rant, dude. I feel pretty insecure. But I'll let it slide for half of your pudding!" Takao only rolled his eyes, smiling at Kenny as he he nudged Tala's empty tray away, making room on the table for the brown haired boy.

Kenny exhaled and slowly sat down, placing his rather heavy looking bag on the table with the tray.

"Do I- I mean, if you really want it I guess-" The boy slowly nudged the pudding cup towards the blonde whose grin only widened as he reached forward to make 'gimme gimme' grabby hands at the cup only to have them slapped away with an 'Oww!' by the blunette.

"Ignore this monkey. We're trying to put him on a diet."

"Hey! I lost ten pounds!" Max huffed. Takao reached out to pat him on the stomach

"Yeah and look. Just found them again." Which earned him a soft hearted glare before the blonde got distracted by his fries.

Kenny only grinned at them slightly. He took out a shiny black laptop from his bag, which explained things a lot, and placed it on the table opening it up. "This is uh Dizzi." He motioned towards his laptop in an abortive hand gesture before he decided to place his hands back on the bench. "Since Max is here, I guess I can get one thing done with." The blonde raised a curious eyebrow in response.

"We had to cut back on some of the work for the magazine and we couldn't fit in all of your art work? As amazing as they all were so uh I was hoping you could tell me which ones you wanted to put in? I could have done it myself but I felt like that was inappropriate so."

He moved the laptop towards them and pointed at the screen. Next to Max's work on a document page of MS Publisher, was another page of some really amazing photography shots. They were of the school grounds, and several school events and looked really impressive. Takao's knowledge of a camera was only limited to knowing what button to press to make the camera 'click'.

"Kenny these are really good! Are they from the photography club?" Takao turned to the boy as Max cooed at a photo of himself at the school's Drama Night last year. He was standing next to a grumpy looking Emily and Hilary. Those two had never gotten along.

"Yeah, I guess. Rei took these; they're pretty amazing huh. There are some here from the others two but most of these are from him. Not to be like biased or anything."

"Hahaha, yeah Rei's pretty nice." Takao nodded which earned him a stare followed by a sly look from the blonde. The bluenette felt his face grow warm as he shifted uncomfortably. He glared at Max.

"I mean he's nice. Like he helped during that one lab. And stuff. The one where you abandoned me by the way." Max only grinned wider and winked at him before turning back to Kenny and pointing out the artwork he liked better.

Takao only looked at the two of them working, until the bell rang.

* * *

"Hey Grandpa, yeah it's me - no no, yes - no, Grandpa focus! Yeah so I just have one more period and then Tala said he'd drop me off at the hospital. My shift doesn't start till four so. Yeah, so I better find you in your bed and your Nurse better not tell me you tried to move around too much." The blunette grinned as he heard a grumble on the other line. "Did Hiro stop by? Awe dammit. I wanted to be there for the lecture." Takao rolled his eyes as Grandpa want on another rant about the disrespectful youth of today and how he was still the big man and responsible for the two of them. After a few more minutes he ended the call as he reached his locker. He had Physics last, without Max, which was always a bummer. Something about sitting alone without any of his friends in a class always made the blue haired boy uncomfortable. He liked being social, just found it a little hard to warm up to people. He got awkward very easily, to boot.

His phone pinged and he swiped the lock and rolled his eyes.

_the dough smlls soo gud tee! lik mmmm! u sur u cnt cme aftr the hsptl? I cnt be alne for hils tantrum. u knw hw she gts aftr a mtng wth kai D:_

_Serves you for sassing me during lunch, you monster. Better save me a slice for tomorrow. I still remember the cheesecake incident_

_ofc. takao pls. wht knd of bro do u thnk am I! hurt! and THT WS AN ACCDNT!_

_It was wrapped in tinfoil with 'Properly of Takao' written on it... x.x_

_u knw hw i cnt focus on wrds whn im hungry!_

Takao only grinned, snorting, when he accidentally bumped into something. His phone went tumbling downwards and thankfully landed on the floor on top of his bag.

"Shit. Ohmygod. Fuck, I'm so sorry. I swear I shouldn't be around people ever-" Takao grumbled as he leaned forward to grab the other guys paper who turned around and-

"Oh. Hi. Rei. Hello." Rei only grinned good naturedly, golden eyes twinkling as he leaned down to finish collecting his sheets, his long dark hair swishing in a low pony tail.

"Hey there. I get the feeling this is going to be a thing with us from now on."

"The uh what?"

"Or is it just around me when you loose all semblance of grace?" Takao would have been offended if he didn't notice the soft smile on Rei's face; there was no bite behind it. He only smiled slightly and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah. um, I'm pretty sure I wasn't invited when they were handing out those genes to everyone." Rei only laughed as he reached down to help Takao's bag who reached down at the same time and their arms bumped into each other. He stepped back immediately, embarrassed and flushed. The Chinese boy only laughed and handed up his stuff.

"Want to walk with me? We're going in the same direction aren't we?"

"We are?"

"Yeah we're in Physics together."

"I am?" Takao was so confused, as he just blinked at Rei. The other boy laughed slightly, though it sounded a little broken and nervous.

"I'm so sorry, I don't really notice people in that class. Like Max and Tala aren't in it so I just lay low and mostly sleep it off anyway. I mean Mr Prentis means well but he's has this voice that-" The other guy just patted him on the shoulder goodnaturedly before turning towards the class, grinning at him.

Takao took that as a sign and fell into steps with him.

"So uh you accepted my offer." Rei offered into the silence, which made the blunette extremely thankful. He hated silence, it was even worse than small talk.

" I did. Obviously. I mean. I wasn't going to reject you. Saving my lab earned you that much."

"Oh really? Your Facebook's that precious huh?" Rei grinned as Takao laughed, neck flushing.

"No I mean. Not really. Haha, its pretty bland actually, its mostly just Max spamming my wall with these animal videos. They are way more addicting than you'd think but yeah nothing too exciting. No embarrassing photos or anything even." Rei stage-sighed, eyes twinkling.

"Dammit, that's the gold right there."

"I'm too smart for that, Rei Kon." He grinned lopsidedly as Rei just looked at him bemusedly.

Rei opened his mouth and was about to say something when someone grunted at they turned around to see Kai Hiwatari standing near the row of lockers, bag slung over a muscled shoulder, lips drawn into a tight line, as he stared at the two of them in silence. His eyes were hard and unwelcoming. They turned towards him before ignoring him completely and returning to Rei, rolling his eyes as the Chinese grinned at him in greeting. As they approached each other, Takao quietly side stepped the extremely good looking duo, like honestly how was that even fair, and entered his class.

And somehow despite the abrupt ending, the little moments with Rei coupled with the grins he kept shooting Takao whenever they had eye contact in Physics made the blunette feel warm around the collar and genuinely smile.

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* * *

_I'm telling you Tala, Rei is like magic. I swear, I don't know how I managed to stay awake. Prentis was more drone-ey then usual. o: hflhaghh_

_Takao please, I'm in class. We will discuss your sudden burst of social butterfly wings in a moment._

_Social Butterfly? Really?_

_You're right. I'm sorry. Must be just your massive crush then._

_What. Pls! What's with everyone._

Tala only rolled his eyes as he placed his phone on the desk before turning back to the screen. His phone buzzed again, and he looked to see two texts, one from Max, and the other from Hilary.

_talaaaaa. r u cmng ovr? pizzasleepovr! i evn downlded tht new liamneeson mvie! - Max_

Tala sighed; it was truly a shame when after all these years he had gotten used to the chatspeak.

_Can't. Dad will be home early. He seemed in a good mood today. Good time for the whole talk now I suppose._

_oohh! bezofluck! :d :d :d :*_

Tala clicked on his other message thread with Hilary

_I am surrounded by imbeciles. Honestly, this guy just broke the photocopier. Just what I need. I swear he just looked at it and it started spazzing. Like the fuck. - Hilary_

_At least you aren't freaking out over the most awkward conversation of my life after this._

_Ooh, Tala. Is today the day? ;) Putting your big boy pants on? You've got this. It's just Bryan. What happened to after the test._

_I uh...may have been in the washroom._

_Did you just...hide in the washroom? On PURPOSE?_

_No! Please. I have some dignity. I can't control my biological functions._

_Tala, you never use public washrooms._

_Oh._

_You're such a drama pants. God. It'll be fine. You need this to go back to normal. Can't fidget or hide your way the rest of the year. And it'll give you closure too._

_Takao's probably halfway on his way to ditching us for Rei Kon. He just texted me ranting about him._

_Don't try to change the topic! But. What. WHAAAAAAT. What's this! Ooh that slut. I knew he'd been fbing all over that. Im so proud. Our plants all grown up._

_Don't freak him out, it's nothing. And don't mention this to Max. He'll be insufferable. Takao was going on about some suggestive winking.._

_Oh god. Didn't we already have the intervention for that. That jut makes Max look constipated. Also. Ditching me with Tate, huh?_

_Ha! Good luck with THAT, Hil. Tee's not coming too._

_We're not that codependent of a group. I'm sure we can survive...What's up with you? Even bigger plans tonight? The English Project hasn't started yet right?_

_Nope_

_Yeah because I'm pretty sure you'd be a ball of ashes at this point. If you want, I can switch with Bryan._

_And deny you Johnny?_

_Fuck you. Don't go there. God. Dweebs._

_:P Youre transparent. Someone's slipping._

_And you're texting in class. Et tu. But, no whatsup?_

_Dad'll be early. So..._

_Oh. Call me whenever, okay? It won't be that bad._

Tala only sighed and clicked his phone off. He looked up and for half a second, held eye contact with Bryan to his left. What seemed like an entirety later, he finally looked down and frowned.

Why was this so hard?

* * *

"Hello again, Takao." Judy Tate smiled at the young blunette warmly, as she flipped through his grandfathers file that lay just next to his bed. Takao shifted on his feet slightly, Grandpa lying on the bed with a gruff irritated expression on his face. Judy smiled as she put down the file and reached up to neaten up the ponytail that bound her shiny blonde hair.

"Hi! Thankyou for uh keeping an eye on him, it really means a lot." Takao smiled at her as she took a seat next to Grandpa.

Judy only smiled and waved a hand as if to brush away the formality.

"Luckily the fall wasn't so bad. It's just a bruise. Albiet a bad one."

"See I told you - homeboy's just overly emotional and paranoid, now let me just -" Grandpa tried to hustle from the bed only to wince. A Nurse reached forward to assist him grudgingly back into the resting position.

"He's hurt his hip badly, but luckily its not a dislocation. Just badly bruised. He can stay here for a few days because I know you have school and Hiro is away. We'll try to manage his pain with ice and heat packs and hopefully go from there. He'll recover eventually." The blonde smiled at them warmly, reaching forward to ruffle Takao's hair as he looked at her gratefully. Ryuuji looked annoyed but slightly resigned as he just huffed and leaned back against his pillow.

With a nod, she turned and followed the Nurse out of the room.

Takao sighed as he turned to Ryuuji.

"Stop being grumpy. You can't blame me."

Ryuuji only stared at the ceiling, stubbornly. The bluenette only sighed.

"Hiro says he'll be here in a day or two, after he gets done with his last exam. He says he's sorry for rushing back so quickly. I got a call." Takao offers as he fiddles with the Get Well Soon cards Mrs Tachibana and Hilary, Tala and Max had gotten them. Ryuuji just sighed, and turned on one side gently. Takao sat in the chair next to his bed, iPod ear buds in his ears, his Chemistry book opened in his lap, until he felt his grandfather's chest even out and he took out his earbuds to see that Ryuuji's breathing was low and steady; he had fallen asleep.

With a slight smile and a squeeze of his shoulder, the blunette turned to put his stuff back into his bag. He quietely tiptoed out of the hospital room, closing the door behind him gently.

He was almost inside the elevator of the floor when he felt someone pat him on the shoulder lightly. He turned around to see Dr Ivanov, Attending Plastic Surgeon and Tala's father, smile at him softly as they both entered the elevator

"How have you been, Takao." Takao smiled politely and shrugged.

"I've been better. I have shift today at the cafe, right now. Have this gut feeling it'll be really exhausting." Mr Ivanoc only nodded at that. Takao turned to his watch, shifting from one foot to another awkwardly. It read 3:17pm.

"Could you tell Tala to not wait up for me for Dinner? A doctor had to leave and I'm going to be on call." Takao only blinked and frowned.

"Um, okay. Sure." The elder man only nodded, patting his bed slightly, before smiling stiffly at him and leaving as soon as the elevator opened.

He reached out to press the button for the ground floor when someone entered next to him, quickly pushing the button he had intended for.

He blinked as he turned around to stare at Kai Hiwatari. Huh. What were the chances.

It wasn't that Takao was really surprised; Kai's grandfather  _was_ Voltaire, Chief of Surgery at BeyCity National and Kai was rumored to have been following in his footsteps, completely sidestepping his father Hitoshi, who in his own right, was the CEO of a very successful pharmaceutical company.

For a brief moment Takao wondered what that kind of pressure must feel like before the shook his head, exhaling softly. The other boy didn't even spare him a glance.

The stood in the elevator for a while, silent, except for the quiet thrumming of the machine, before Takao coughed. Much like Max, he hated silences.

"Uh. Hey."

He only got silence in treatment. Not even a tilt of the head or a raised eyebrow.

"You're Rei's friend right?" He tried again. Like he didn't know who Kai Hiwatari was. As soon as the words left him, Takao felt like such an idiot. This got him a slight head tilt, and a raised eyebrow which looked like it was saying 'you're an idiot.'

Takao probably was, if he was trying to make sense of eyebrows.

"Hn."

The blunette frowned as he scrubbed his sneakers against the floor. Assholes always did rub him the wrong way.

"Um. Okay, good talk." Kai only rolled his eyes slightly, grunting before moving a few inches away from Takao. Okay, ouch.

Takao got out of the lift in record time as soon as it dinged to a stop and open.

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* * *

"Hey Hil," Takao grinned at her as he finished swiping the last of the tables clean. It was almost 7:30 and his shift was about to end. The crowd had thinned to just a teenage boy sitting in a booth sipping a latte with his brother who was eating away at a plate of fries.

The brunette sighed as she sat down on one of the stools next to the main counter. She eyed the tray of brownies a few centimeters from her nose before Takao bopped her slightly on the head.

Hilary huffed. "18 years of friendship, and not even a tiny little favour. Nice, Kinomiya." Takao just grinned cheekily, rolling his eyes.

"Where's Max? Did you piggies enjoy your Pizza? Is he in a food coma? Is he passed out? We should totally doodle on his face." Takao mused as Hilary giggled, shrugging her shoulders.

"The little freak got hit by a certain artistic inspiration and rushed off to find his canvas." Takao nodded as he accepted the bill from another girl as he handed her a bottled water with a slice of cheesecake. Max's dad, Taro Tate passed by them behind the counter, ruffling their heads, singing a merry tune as he disappeared into the pantry.

"I uh ran into Tala's dad at the hospital." Hilary frowned

"Oh. How was the douche?" Takao just gave her a look and she sighed. "Relax, Judy, who I think is probably his  _only_  friend, isn't here right now. How was your Grandpa by the way? I was hoping to visit tomorrow. He's probably cranky."

" _Very._  But Hiro's coming the day after tomorrow; Friday night. He's always been able to calm him down." Hilary nodded.

"Ivanov cancelled on Tala." They both stared at each other before Hilary cursed.

"Fuck." She quickly pulled out her phone and typed out a quick text.

Takao just looked at her quietly. "I wanted to call him. But I don't know. I didn't- I didn't want to make him upset. With the whole Bryan thing and what not. And you know him better, more so than Max even." She just nodded, reading a message as the screen flashed, making her face glow.

"He's with Bryan, discussing their English project. Oscar Wilde."

"Ooh. That must be uh, interesting. Wonder how that'll go." Hilary nodded, shrugging her shoulders, tracing the container of brownies with a finger.

"How come you didn't stay home for lunch? You never said."

The brunette girl only rolled her eyes. "Mum had her bookclub over. It wasn't really my thing. I just feel a little awkward with them. Plus I don't want to answer any more questions about Tala and me and our wedding plans."

Takao snorted. "You should tell her."

Hilary laughed, but it came out slightly bitter. "Right, and disappoint her more."

The blunette just frowned.

"Anyways, spazzy. What's this I hear about Rei Kon?" Hilary grinned as Takao just sighed.

"REI KON! I knew it!" Max cackled as he bounded down the stairs into the cafe. "You little minx!" The blonde pointed accusingly at the blunette, as he took a seat next to Hilary.

"We talked for like 2 minutes. And I managed to not fall on my feet any time in between. I did that instead of saying hello." Max only cackled some more, earning him a foot to the shin from Hilary who only sighed. "You disappoint, Tee."

"Hey! Not my fault. Gravity and I have a very special relationship." Max snorted.

"I also met Kai." This got him stares from the both of them.

"Well. He didn't say much. Just glared at me and ignored my existence. I think he just saw an outline of air next to Rei to be honest." Takao muttered, frowning a little at the mention of the rude Hiwatari. How people found that behavior charming, fuck if he knew.

"Someone's had a productive day." Hilary opened her mouth to continue when her phone buzzed.

"You asshole, you were supposed to call me hours ago." She growled into the mouth piece as Max and Takao stared at each other.

"Calm your tits, Tachibana. I misplaced by phone whatever. I have the permission slips from the departments; where's your house? I'll drop them off." Hilary was silent for a while, her cheeks tinged pink before she huffed and scoffed. "Drop them off at Tate's Cafe."

"You eat at that gay joint? For shit?" Johnny grinned, not that she could see but she could tell. It made her blood boil.

"Stop being such a dick and just come quickly, idiot." He only snorted and hung up on her.

She turned around to look at the two boys. "Not a word." Max mimicked zipping his mouth while Takao just grinned, his eyes twinkling.

"Why Hilary, you look a little red. Do you need some water."

Hilary swears if looks could kill.

Johnny arrived a couple of minutes later; she could hear the rumbling of his dumb deathbike before he sent her a text. She huffed as she made her way out into the cold, glaring at him but with the amused grin he gave her, the red cheeks and pink nose probably made the entire look null and void.

"You look like an idiot." He snickered, running a hand through his thick dark red hair, lips pulled into a wide wild grin, as he stuffed his hands into his coat and pulled out a packet. He tossed it at her and she reached forward to grab it hurriedly.

"Are you mad. Couldn't you have given it to me properly." He just shrugged his broad shoulders before grunting and getting on his bike.

Hilary knew she could've stepped into the warm cafe at any point, but yet, for some unfathomable reason, she stayed long enough to see him drive off into the street and turn into the next lane until nothing was left but the quiet buzzing of the Cafe behind her and her quiet breathing.

* * *

 


	3. Walkabout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kai power struggles with Hilary, Takao tries to socialize like a normal person, Rei is a charming motherfucker, Max tries to understand what the baseball delinquent is upto, Tala and Bryan FINALLY have the conversation, Friday night is looming which means HIRO HIRO HIRO and highschool parties.

**Summary:** (REWRITE) Because to everyones surprise it ended up being awkward accident prone Takao Kinomiya that came between best friends Rei Kon and Kai Hitawari. "Often it is the most deserving people who cannot help loving those who destroy them - Herman Hesse"

 **Pairings:** Kai/Takao, Rei/Takao, Michael/Max, slowbuild!eventual!Hiro/Tala, possibly Kenny/Hilary, past!Bryan/Tala, onesided!Johnny/Hilary, past!Emily/Max, brief!Brooklyn/Kai

 **Ratings:** T, but mature scenes may appear with their own warnings.

 **Warnings:** Slowbuild. Mild language because teenagers will be teenagers in highschool and use terrible filthy language. Eventual  **dark themes** ,  **violence, sexual references** etc, love triangle, slight age difference, slight attempt at  **non-con** ,

 **Disclaimer:** I own nothing except the plot.

 **Authors Note:** I have almost entirely lived in the UK so have NO concept whatsoever of how the educational system works in Japan or almost anything else. So there will be lots of factual errors in this. Let's just assume BeyCity is a small town of sorts near London since only slight characters have Japanese origins here with Rei Takao and Kai so *shrugs and for my sake we're applying the british CIE system here. Ugh. Oh, also I dont like uniforms? So no school uniforms. and Kai's parents are alive. Takao's aren't. Anything else I manage to remember will be mentioned accordingly.

A huge huuuge thankyou to  **secretsareneverhiddenforever, Patient Harmony, RyuNeko, Ketz, Lover of Fanfiction and Anime, LazyAuthoress, PrincessAnime08, soulXmaka4evalove and Mutilated Pancake** for their amazing reviews which encourage me to write even more so. Reviews are food for our soul, you guys. Never forget. So please try to give any feedback whatsoever. We really appreciate it!

**CHAPTER 3: Walkabout**

Takao frowned as he fiddled with his locker, trying to budge the metal door open and failing spectacularly; flushing at the decent number of people that were turning towards his direction and staring at him in all his embarrassing glory. With an irritated huff he rapped his knuckles against the edge before frowning and turning towards the Cafeteria, having no other choice but to carry his heavy bag around. The tiny nagging voice in the back of his head he'd often referred to as Hilary would have made a comment on him being severely out of shape but Takao chose to ignore her in favour of visualizing whatever Mr. Tate had baked for them this afternoon.

Every Friday, the older man would make Max and Takao something before the former's shift started while the latter waited for his own and caught up on his homework but mostly lay around with his playlist on Shuffle, as a premature reward for the usual crazy Friday rush and to celebrate the end of the weekend. It had become sort of a tradition. It was also a good thing Max and him shared the same final class today, Math, because desserts had this annoying habit of disappearing around the young blond before Takao could make it to Tate's Cafe. All humour died in any situation regarding his beloved Cheesecake.

The blunette flailed as he tried to get his iPod out of his bag's front pocket, whilst simultaneously trying to wedge his earphones out of another all the while turning a corner into another corridor. It was to no one's surprise really when he ended up crashing into another body and his bag tumbled down onto the tiled floor with a 'thunk', iPod plopping besides it with the earphones jammed underneath. He blinked before shaking his head and turning to his unfortunate victim, because really with they way he was going through life the list was never ending; Takao was pretty sure he had met half of the people he knew by flailing into them with his uncooperative limbs. But he'd be damned if anyone tried to make a Bella Swan reference to his person, (he wasn't  _that_ hopeless. That, and sparkle didn't really do it for him.)

"Oh, shit. Sorry dude, my bad."

The blunette blinked before turning to the other guy, a tall blond with steel grey eyes and a nice looking body covered in jeans and a hoodie under which he could spot the typical jersey that BeyCity Memorial High's football team wore, the huge red BCMH letters standing at brightly against the gray. Takao shook his head and turned red; he really needed to stop hanging out with Max and Hilary so much. He was pretty sure ogling someone so blatantly was creepy on so many levels.

"Um, no big deal. Seriously, I really should start trying to watch where I'm going. I swear, my feet do one thing and my arms are on a whole other level I mean-" The blond just grinned boyishly before nodding. Takao shrugged, grinning softly before reaching down to grab his bag and iPod; inspecting the latter for any damage. He turned back and blinked to see the other guy shuffling around, looking at him curiously.

"...Uh. Yes?" The blunette tilted his head in confusion as he heaved one strap back onto his shoulder, flailing before readjusting the weight. He turned his iPod back on and grinned to see it working perfectly. Just like its owner, his iPod was resilient as fuck.

"Miguel." The taller guy offered, bringing forward a tanned arm for a shake. Takao nodded and shook it before turning to fumble with his earphones.

"I'm Takao. Uh, Kinomiya. Takao Kinomiya. You're in the football team right?" Miguel nodded and Takao felt like such a moron because he just asked the most obvious question in the world. He coughed before smiling slightly.

"Well, I should...go. Lunch period, and everything. So, bye. Sorry for..walking into you and stuff. I'll try to stick to walls and inanimate objects." Miguel just laughed, grinning goofily before waving him off and turning around the corner.

The blunette blinked before he started grinning; he really was getting good at this. Rei was some serious miracle worker, he mused as he continued on his way to the Cafeteria. He was just about to click on his favourite song of the week before he spotted a familiar darkhaired Chinese boy up ahead talking to another boy, taller and broad with dark grey hair and -fuck, it was Kai.

He slowed his pace a bit, plugging in his earphones and letting the music sooth him as he waited, to give Rei and Kai time to walk a bit furthur before he continued on his way. The blunette took out his phone and was typing away a text to ask Hilary where she was, when Takao heard someone call out his name and he froze.

The blunette pretended to not hear, because earphones were gods gift to awkward turtles everywhere, before he felt someone approach him. Inwardly cursing, he looked up to see Rei smiling at him, golden eyes bright as he stopped next to him; Kai following him albiet in a much slower pace. The slate-haired boy had an irritated look on his face which, well, surprised the blunette. He had assumed the only expressions Kai's default setting allowed him were 'indifferent' and 'bored'.

Takao took out his earbuds, fumbling with them in his hands, as he walked a bit to meet the other two, smiling slightly as he nodded at Rei.

"Hey, sorry um, I was listening to my..stuff." He made a motion towards his iPod, "Snow Patrol. It's my jam." Wait, what? Fuck. Who even said jam anymore.

Rei just looked amused as he snorted. "I swear, Takao, you and your Apple products. Definitely not a platonic relationship." Takao just grinned in return. Rei was the best, the blunette approved.

"So, what's up?" Rei turned towards Kai, giving him a look Takao couldn't see but whatever it was made the latter frown and roll his eyes. He turned to Takao and grunted. Rei sighed, turning to Takao and looking a bit embarrassed.

"Sorry about him, he was raised by wolves. This is Kai, uh." The Chinese motioned towards the Student Body President.

"Oh yeah, we've met actually. Um, well. Not meet meet. But there were words, well I think there were- yeah we've met." He could feel his neck turning hot, as Kai just raised an eyebrow at him and Rei just looked confused.

"You have? Kai never mentioned..." Rei frowned a bit. And now Takao just felt even more embarrassed. Of course Kai didn't remember meeting the blunette.

"Well, um. Hilary's waiting for me. Hilary, my friend. Yeah, so. I have to go. See you!" With a rush, Takao smiled at them awkwardly before moving past the two and making his way towards the Cafeteria doors.

He was almost there when he felt someone run up to him. Fuck his life.

"Hey hey, wait. So." Rei rushed towards him as he stepped in front of the blunette and leaned against the wall. Takao just stared at him, startled.

"Sorry for that, I'm just...hungry." Takao offered. The raven-haired boy just gave Takao a judgmental eyebrow. He really needed to stop reading too much into strips of facial hair.

"..For Cafeteria food? Wow, fuck. We really need to get some real food in you soon huh." Rei grinned, perfect white teeth glinting at the other boy. Did all the jocks have perfect teeth here? Max would be interested. Takao remembered a rant about 'stupid blond, baseball and dentists' somewhere between their late Skype call discussion about Nutella.

He rolled his eyes, grinning slightly. "No trust me. You couldn't pay me enough to even touch Greta's cooking, sassy and amazing as she is. Hilary always has something with her, and I shamelessly steal from her time to time." Takao shrugged, tracing an idle pattern on the floor with his shoe. Rei just nodded, smiling.

"So, I was thinking," The Chinese boy leaned forward a bit, and Takao just blinked, edging backwards a little. Rei looked hesitant now.

"Yeah?" Takao looked over Rei's shoulder and Kai was absent. He looked around and spotted him talking to a tall pale redhead the bluenette identified as Brooklyn. He wondered what it was like to converse with the stoic boy.

"Johnny's having this party. Tonight, end of weekend and stuff." Rei turned to Takao who just nodded at him politely.

"Yeah, um. I heard about it. Hilary mentioned. They're kind of working together for the magazine." Rei nodded.

"I normally don't do stuff like that, not really. I mean, but it could be fun?"

"...Yeah. You should...go, Rei." Takao wondered where Rei was going with this. He looked down at his phone. Hilary hadn't replied yet. He looked up to see the other looking at him with a dumbfounded stare.

"Uh," The blue-haired boy started.

"Takao, I meant. You should come, to the party. Your friends too."

The bluentte laughed awkwardly, "Uh, sure. I mean, we were planning on anyways. Well them, really. Not me. Because of my grandfather?" Rei's smile dimmed slightly, as he nodded slowly, in realization. The blunette had mentioned the hip injury to the Chinese boy last night over Facebook. It didn't weird Takao out enough to realize how often he had started talking to Rei and now he felt like such an ass, guilty pooling at the bottom of his stomach. The Chinese boy really was a super nice guy.

"Oh, yeah I mean. Sorry, I forgot. How is he?" Rei gave him a soft smile which Takao returned.

"He's doing much better, actually. But listen. Um, Hiro, that's my brother, he's coming over tonight. So maybe I could go? I mean I'm still not sure or anything-" Rei just grinned at him, leaning forward to flick something off his shoulder gently before returning back. Takao could feel his face turn red. No one had actually ever been that close to him before; what was even happening.

"It's cool. Just try to come, yeah? Looking forward to your company tonight." With a grin, the other boy turned around to go back to Kai, leaving Takao standing there with a stunned look on his face.

* * *

"So let me get this straight. You want to go tonight, because  _Rei Kon_ asked you to, oh sorry, asked  _us_ , to come. But when me, your friend for the past twelve years, asked you the same you whined and bitched and said yes and then no and then changed your mind like a billion times before changing the topic with food." Hilary leveled him with a look so deadly Takao opened his mouth and then closed it, gaping at her silently.

".. _What are you implying."_ He frowned at her, reaching forward to steal a muffin from her plate.

The brunette just looked at him as if he were retarded.

"I worry about you honestly."

"Look, he's a nice guy. I just felt bad, okay? And lets not pretend that before Rei you guys were going to stick with me during the party. I just didn't want to be awkward and be that kid sitting in a corner drinking fruit punch alone."

"You really really need to stop watching all those highschool movies."

"You made us watch them last week!" Hilary only sniffed delicately.

"Technicalities. Anyways, I'm...not mad actually. Well, I am. Because you're an awkward penguin who can't even tell when a  _hot guy is hitting on you_  but baby steps. So I suppose I'm proud too." Takao spluttered, flailing slightly.

"Rei wasn't- I don't, what? There's no such thing!"

Hilary only hummed noncommittally. Takao glared at her but before he could say something, a huge bag dropped roughly in the seat besides the girl, startling them both. Johnny Rickards, in all his tall redheaded leather jacket glory, plopped down on the seat, long legs folding under the table gracefully as he crossed his arms across his chest and smirked at the two.

"Tachibana, Kinomiya." The redheaded nodded, before reaching forward to take a muffin from Hilary's plate who glared at him, turning red.

Takao just blinked at him, raising his arm in an aborted wave. "Uh, hello. Nice of you...to drop by." Johnny just raised an eyebrow, which what even. Did eyebrows have a thing with Takao? He only shook his head before returning to his juice.

Hilary on the other hand looked to be on the verge of a fit.

"What the fuck are you doing. No,  _stop that_!" She reached forward to smack the other boy on the back of his hand with her hand as he reached forward for another muffin. Johnny only glanced at her irritably.

"Why are you always so high-strung, god." Johnny reached for his bag, taking out a bunch of papers before thrusting them into Hilary's lap who, in her defense, jumped only a little.

"What's this?"

"Kenny's notes on the articles. He wants you to edit them." Johnny shrugged broad shoulders before turning to Takao.

"How does one even have  _blue_ hair. Like dude, what the fuck." Takao glared at him, affronted.

Hilary flicked the redhead on the shoulder sharply.

"Idiot, focus. First of all, A, these notes are for  _you_ to edit like it says so  _ON THE FIRST PAGE._ AND B, these were due three days ago." Johnny just blinked at her, crinkling his nose.

"I had a busy week." Hilary's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

"Well, unbusy yourself, or I swear I'm going to ask Mrs Archibald to kick you out of this thing." Johnny just snorted.

"Right, and that's going to look so good on MissClassPresident's rep' huh. Didn't think you were a quitter Tachibana." He just grinned as Hilary's glare turned even more deadly, mouth set in an angry line.

"If you think for one second I'm going to do your work and-" Johnny just rolled his eyes.

"Just get the pipsqueak to do it himself. Shake those tits in Kenny's face. Pretty sure he'd explode, though as small as they are." Takao now looked horrified, turning back and forth between Johnny and Hilary. Predictably, the juice in Hilary's hand crinkled as her fist squeezed it mercilessly.

The redhead just looked even more amused, grin wide and feral as he winked at her before getting up. Reaching for his bag, he nodded at Takao and Hilary.

"You dorks comin' tonight? Or are you both deciding on staying lame this year as well?" With that he walked away, leaving them both in silence.

Takao turned to Hilary and poked her hesitantly. She turned to him, cheeks still flushed, red spots high on her cheekbones.

"He's just getting you worked up, Hil'. Relax."

"I am going to murder him someday. Whatever he's up to, sabotage or some shit, I'm getting to the top of it."

Takao grinned slightly. "Oh I'm sure you want to get on top of him." He laughed as he ducked an incoming fist.

* * *

Max furrowed his eyebrows, pencil tracing over the new sheet of paper fluidly, leaving behind delicate gray lines in its wake. He reached a bit forward in his seat, angling his fist just a bit to the left to get that perfect arch of his sketch, frustrated at the end product still not coming out to what he had envisioned in his head. Pouting he sighed as he leaned back in his chair. Looking around, the library was mostly empty at this time of the day, being a Friday and his lunch period. Seeing as he didn't share his with Hilary and Takao, who had one before him, and Tala, who had one after and was probably dealing with Bryan and Daddy drama, Max had gone to the library to finish this Art assignment for his class before the weekend. With the whole party and his Friday shift, he really wanted to have Saturday and Sunday off.

The blond grinned slightly, imagining all sorts of stuff his Dad had cooked up for him and Takao back home. His Mom even had her shift ending early today so maybe she'd even drop by. Family moments were amazing, especially when they got together to play Cluedo. 18 year old or whatever, no one was too old for board games. BoardGame Night should be a thing!

_board gme nite shld be a thng! - Max (Mass Text)_

_You threw a tantrum the last time you lost at Monopoly. - Tala_

_liez! liez and slandr! - Max_

He was giggling to himself, and turned to his left when he felt someone plop down next to him. He smiled widely at the sight of long bright green hair, tied in a pony tail.

"Zeo! Where have you been mister?" Max grinned, poking his friend in the arm as he reached forward to pack his Pencil Case. Zeo only rolled his eyes, grinning, as he leaned forward to observe Max's latest sketch before the blond reached to pack it up.

"That looks really great Maxie." Max smiled brightly, blue eyes bright and twinkling.

"Thankyou! Good to know someone recognizes genius." The blond huffed, nose crinkling. Zeo only rolled his eyes.

"Mr Jeremy's a hardass. He'll warm up to you. I had Art last year, but dropped it."

Max nodded. "He's evil. I swear, he's out to get me. He always gives me The Evil Eye whenever he sees my work! And I mean that in capital letters. I'm serious, Zo'!"

Zeo only laughed.

"So what's up? Catching up on homework too? Wow how did we get so nerdy. This moment will stay between us forever.." The green haired boy only laughed slightly.

"Well, um. Michael's kind of outside with his lackey's, so." The boy only shrugged and Max blinked at him before frowning.

"He's still bothering you?" Zeo rolled his eyes.

"Uh, did he ever stop? It's Michael Parker. It's in his genes or something." Max only frowned some more, blond eyebrows knitted together in frustration.

"Well, Raul and Julia are just across this bookshelf so you can sit with them because I'm leaving right now? It's okay though! NinjaMax shall be on the lookout. I'll text you, if the coast is clear." The blond stood up, heaving his ratty bag over his shoulder.

Zeo's eyes widened a bit. "Just don't get in trouble, Maxie.." The blond only waved an arm in his direction, shrugging him off.

"No one ever sees me coming!" The blond grinned, before turning around and tripping over his chair and flailing. The librarian cleared her throat pointedly as the blond grinned sheepishly.

"Who...put that there." Zeo just laughed.

Max was texting away to Takao, sending him a 160 character long message on just how hungry he was for Pizza when he turned the corner and looked up to see Michael and two other jocks, probably in the baseball team (god, this school had too many sports), laughing obnoxiously against the wall a decent way ahead of the blond.

Max frowned at the tall blond, watching him as he fixed his cap, clapping his teammate roughly on the shoulder before he turned to Max. The smaller blond flailed before turning in the other direction, quickly typing out a text to Zeo

_mayday mayday dude! gt raul n julia to adopt u! x.x - Max_

He was halfway up the stairs and firing another text to Takao to ask him if he was in Math already when he felt an arm around his elbow. The blond startled, flailing, leaning back and tripping on his feet before he regained his balance.

Michael smirked at him boyishly, leaning against the railing as he watched Max with an unreadable look, eyes raking over Max before the younger blond huffed, irritated.

Max leaned forward, looking around him for the others and finding no one.

"Where's your possy, mister?" Michael only looked at him in amusement.

"Possy? Really Blue?" Max only glared harder.

"Yeah you heard me buddy. Your pack, Crabbe and Goyle wannabees, sidekicks, lackeys, I can go on for a really long time." Max fidgeted with his bag, before folding his arms across his chest. Michael only rolled his eyes. He stepped aside to let a girl pass through before turning to Max.

"Keep your panties on kid, what's gotten you so highstrung?"

" _Panties?_  Excuse you-"

"And to think we were really getting along, all that delinquent bonding mean nothing to ya'?"

Max only blinked at him before returning his glare full force

"Okay, listen. I'm not a delinquent! I've never even been in a detention before! And-"

"Ha shit, really? Fuck. Never lived on the edge, Blue?" Max flailed his bag in his direction.

"I don't need to be reckless to be entertaining. I'm plenty fun on my own! I'm a beast at Charades! That's not the point though." Michael just smirked at him bemusedly.

"Okay, whatever. If you're going to do your thing where you harass me for some weird reason without really saying much and just stand there all cool and smug, could you like not? Because I've been having a good day so far, and being late for class is not an option so I'm just going to go now." Max was about to turn the corner and make for the rest of the stairs when he felt another tug on his elbow as he was turned around, not gently but not quite forcefully.

The taller blond crowded against the smaller blond, backing him against the wall of the landing as Max blinked, blue eyes wide and confused as the bully just smirked at him quietly, that same smug expression on his face that was beginning to really irritate Max. He had let go of Max's elbow and just stood there, arms crossed, looking down at him.

"You talk too much."

Max just stared at him silently, eyebrows knitted together in confusion as he tried to process what was happening. Was he going to end up in a dumpster? Was Michael really going to carry him that far? He certainly could, with the way his biceps were bulging impressively against his shirt sleeve and -ohmygod he was doing it again. The ogling. Of evil bullying baseball jocks. Max flushed, horrified. He was not a rom-com heroine cliche! (Hilary needs to stop with the highschool movie marathons.)

Michael just grinned at him knowingly before he backed off. Raising his fingers in the same two finger salute, he nodded to Max before turning to walk away, forcefully pushing into two Juniors coming up the stairs.

The blond stood there for a while, staring at the spot where Michael had vanished. He couldn't tell how he felt about the older boy. What game was he playing? Because one minute he was the bullying asshole throwing Zeo into dumpsters and scaring him into hiding in the library and the next he was being all smooth and slick and pushing Max into walls in a decidedly non-bullyish way.

Max frowned before slowly resuming his way to Math. The less time he spent with the stupid jock, the better. No matter how sexy his arms were.

* * *

Hilary gritted her teeth in annoyance, tapping her fingers rapidly against the armrest of the chair she was residing in. She glanced at the seat next to her, the  _empty_ chair, where Kai fucking Hiwatari was supposed to be sitting in to discuss the Fund Raiser with her half an hour ago.  _Half an hour ago._ Ms Blake just smiled at her apologetically from her desk whilst Principal Steven just muttered angrily under his breathe as he answered incoming calls, unable to devout his time to this mess that Hilary was slowly losing hair over. And bald was  _not_ a good look on her. Natalie Portman, she was not.

She frowned as her purse vibrated, before a familiar tune began to play out. She took it out and blinked as KENNY flashed across the screen. With a swipe of her thumb, she accepted the call. As the call connected, she glanced at the clock. Max and Takao were probably going to be free any minute now and would be on their way to Mr Tate's to eat  _baked goods_ (her mouth watered involuntarily despite her brain reminding her of her dietary regimen) whilst she waited her for an asshole who was too busy to give them the time of his day.

"Hullo? Hilary?" Hilary startled and she blinked before coughing, clearing her throat.

"Hey Kenny, what'sup? Sorry I was..out of it for a moment."

"Oh, no problem at all! Happens to me all the time really! It's no big deal!" Hilary just smiled before realizing he couldn't see her.

"That's great Kenny, so..what's up? Did Archibald not like the photos Rei sent in?"

"No no, everything's fine. It's just...Johnny didn't turn up the notes I asked him to edit. And he's not picking up? I'm not sure what's happening."

Irritation bubbled under her skin like a itchy rash she couldn't escape these days at the mention of the other asshole plaguing her life.

"Yeah, that idiot. He didn't do anything. And he gave them to me today and tried to trick me into doing them!"

"Oh? Oh. Wow. Um, Hilary, so do you-"

"NO. I do  _not_ want to do that slacker's job, Kenneth! What are you implying!"

"NO. I mean no that's not what I-"

"I am not giving him the satisfaction of getting away with his bullshit!-" She ignored the warning cough from Ms Blake, she was on a rant, "He just walks in with all his swagger and expects me to fall over and do whatever his Highness demands, AS IF-"

"Hilary, Hilary! I didn't mean to imply that. You're not, no no. You're very strong. I mean. You're a strong independent woman. You don't need to uh, what I mean is. I'll do it for you!" Hilary paused. And then contemplated.

"Wait, really?" She felt a nod before he replied.

"Yeah no problem really. I mean I was going to have a Dungeons and Dragons night with Daichi but he cancelled so my nights totally free! So yeah-"

"You shouldn't let him get away with this. You're our boss."

"I know, but-it's easier to just not cause problems and just get this done with."

"You're scared of him aren't you."

"...His arms are the size of my face! Its a genuine response!" Hilary only grunted before sighing.

"I'll help you with as much as I can. I have to be somewhere tonight. A...party." At..Johnny's house. Fuck her life. The things she did for her social life.

"Totally cool! And listen, don't um, pay much attention to him. He does it with everyone."

Hilary frowned. "What do you mean?"

"The whole, irritating people and making fun of them, egging them on and stuff. I kind of get the idea. He's just messing with you. Does it to all the pretty girls. NOT that I think you're..um, pretty or anything! I mean you are! In a scientific way of course, I mean, scientifically If I were to say-"

"What do you mean, others?"

"Oh yeah. He really pushes Mathilda from Art to her limits too. Remember Mathilda? That Miguel guys sister?"

Hilary frowned.

"Oh. Well, yeah. He should stop. Yes. So, I'll check in with you later?" At his response, she ended the call.

Why was she feeling so agitated? Did it piss her off that Johnny went around womanizing and harassing women? Probably. God, he was such an ass. Why did he put her on edge so much. Frustrated, she typed out a quick text to Tala. She hadn't seen him all day. Maybe he could drop by for lunch this afternoon. God knows her Mum would be over the moon. And it wasn't like his Dad was going to be around even.

Hilary hated all this drama. But most of all, she hated Kai Fucking Hiwatari. Who took this moment to walk in with his perfect hair, and stupid perfect face and body, all cool and collected as Ms Blake just giggled at his (probably) lame excuse for being late.

He was still in his football Jersey and shorts, looking all sweaty under his hoodie and Hilary crinkled her nose.

Behind him, Emily entered, as if Hilary's day couldn't get any worse. The orange haired bespectacled ex-girlfriend of one Max Tate just gave Hilary a bitchy smirk before walking past them into Principal Stevens room.

Irritated, Hilary turned to Kai who was placing his bag on the table before taking a seat next to her, with more grace than she could produce. What even is this guy.

"You're late!"

This got her a slate-coloured raised eyebrow in response (which yeah, Takao was right, was pretty impressive. Also, they needed to stop talking about peoples eyebrows during Lunch. Just wasn't on. One day without Tala and they were all falling apart. Friday's were the  _worst._ ) and dug out a neatly made file of papers from his bag. He slapped them on the desk in front of her.

"I've made the schedule and have already gotten it approved from Steven." Kai flipped some pages over, to another page. "Here is the list of students willing to help out with the event, with their own ideas. I've circled the ones I think are appropriate. Contact them to set everything up and get rid of the others. I want this done within two days maximum." He turned over another page whilst Hilary just blinked. "Here's the Budget breakdown. I've compromised as much as I could, and we had to cut back on some of your ideas because they were worthless and didn't really bring anything to the event. The Bonfire is an idiotic idea, and really not worth it. I've made additional notes here, here and here. Read it over and get back to me tomorrow."

She just sat there stunned.

"This was  _my_ idea, so you don't just get to hijack it in the last minute after ignoring me for a week and just expect me to be okay with it."

"I don't expect you to be okay with it because I'm using my superior council post to exert my rightful authority over you. I expect you to be okay with it because my plan is superior."

"I already have some of the students set up their stalls! What am I going to tell them? Pack your shit up, the ones you've been arranging for all this past week, because Kai Hiwatari says otherwise?"

Kai only raised an eyebrow in response.

"I can do the task if you think you're not competent enough."

Hilary was going to kill this son of a bitch. Voltaire's grandson or not.

* * *

(FLASHBACK - Yesterday)

_"So, Oscar Wilde, huh? Of all the fucking authors." Bryan grinned as he lay on Tala's bed, arms folded behind him on the pillow as he glanced at the tall redheaded rummaging around his desk for some pen and paper._

_The pale boy only grunted as he settled besides his ex-boyfriend, spreading out the English assignment. With a frown, he checked his phone for the umpteenth time. There still wasn't a text from his Dad. Something gnawed at the bottom of his stomach, and Tala frowned, shaking his head._

_"Yeah, sorry. All the others were taken. But I think we can do it. I mean, I highlighted all these articles on the Internet and I really think we have some good points here and Oscar Wilde is really a very interesting-" Tala blinked as he turned to see Bryan stare at him. The lavender haired boy just blinked, shaking his head softly._

_"Sorry, just forgot what it's like to see the great Tala Ivanov working in all his glory. You really didn't have to do all this yourself. That's kind of why I'm here." Tala frowned._

_"I was only trying to help, I mean-"_

_"I'm not saying its a bad thing!" He just laughed, patting the pale boy on the shoulder. Tala only hmm'ed noncommittally._

_They got together to work, laptop open in front of them, as they scribbled furiously about their own assignments. Bryan had handled The Portrait of Dorian Gray whilst Tala handled the author himself. They worked well together, something Tala realized and admired yet again, knowing each other's pet peeves and just what buttons to not push. After a hour or so, Bryan sighed, cracking his knuckles and Tala crinkled his nose in disgust._

_"Don't do that Bryan, I swear you're going to ruin your fingers." With an irritated huff the redhead slapped Bryan's clasped hands apart and the other boy just raised an eyebrow, looking at him bemusedly._

_"So, listen. I think we might finish early actually. Do you think you'd be up to like, get something to eat? You've gotten so fucking thin Tala. Do you forget to feed yourself? Or do Max and Takao just eat everything." Tala smiled brightly, chuckling lightly._

_"I'm too smart for them. After all these years, I've learned to bypass their greedy ways. But no, um. My Dad's coming for dinner actually." Tala quietened and the lavender haired boy looked at him and followed suit. He stared at the redhead for a few moments before speaking up, lightly tracing the page with his pencil and drawing random lines._

_"Are you going to tell him? About the Accounting thing?" Tala sighed before nodding slightly._

_"I mean, he's been in a good mood lately. Well, as good as he can get. And I think I need to tell him. School's almost over and." He shrugged silently, worrying his bottom lip as he glanced at Bryan. Reaching forward he rubbed his eyes before sighing._

_"It's...just, kind of frustrating. I mean, I don't know." Bryan only grunted, rolling his eyes._

_"No offence, but your old man's kind of an ass." Tala glared at him._

_"What! Sorry, I mean. He's supposed to be a genius and yet he can't even tell his own son takes English and writes these amazing fucking articles. Ones that you've won prizes with by the way." Tala was quiet._

_"He'd have had to attend the prize distribution ceremonies to notice those."_

_Bryan was quiet._

_"Do-do you want me to be there? Like moral support or something? Because shit, Tala. I would, even after-"_

_"Bryan. It's really okay. I think we need some alone time. And I can't ask you of that." Bryan just scoffed, before grunting._

_"We broke up, we didn't stop being friends idiot." There as an awkward silence in the room and the redhead felt like it went on for hours and hours before Bryan cursed._

_"Shit, I ruined everything didn't I? Don't listen to me, I don't know jack-"_

_Tala just laughed disparagingly._

_"Didn't we though? I mean.." He waved an arm between us. "We barely talk anymore. I don't even know how to-" He was quiet._

_"Hey," Tala turned to look at Bryan who had spoken up, "It's okay, really. I know. It's awkward and yeah, but we can get past this."_

_Tala was just quiet as he leaned back to lie on his pillow._

_Bryan followed suit and they just lay there._

_"I miss you." Tala muttered, in a voice so low he didn't think Bryan could here._

_There was silence before the other boy replied._

_"Me too."_

_"Not..in that way. I mean, I-"_

_"I know."_

_"The other guys are nice, but they can't, sometimes I just, they don't understand me sometimes. I've always felt connected to you. They cant even appreciate a good art movie."_

_Bryan just broke into laughter._

_"Really, Tala? Art movies? Nice. Way to make me feel loved."_

_Tala just snorted._

_"You know what I mean, don't be a drama queen. I mean, things that we used to do together. Even before we-" He waved an arm between them._

_"Had sex?" Tala turned towards the other boy, red faced, glare burning with a bright intensity. Bryan just lifted his arms up in surrender_

_"Sorry sorry! Just trying to make things less awkward."_

_"You're crude." Bryan just grinned._

_"Doesn't make it any less true though. We had sex. Many many times, in different positions.." He just laughed as he got a pillow to the face._

_Tala just rolled his eyes, a smile on his lips as he sighed softly. This wasn't a complete disaster. He glanced at the other boy who was just grinning at him and rolled his eyes. This didn't seem so impossible as before._

_He heard his phone buzz and he reached over the table to reach it._

_Bryan looked at Tala as the other boy glanced at the message that flashed across his cell and in slow motion, he saw the other boys face close up. His smile withdrew into a small thin line as he quietly placed the phone back on the table. Tala then turned and looked up at the ceiling, quiet._

_They remained like this for a while, silent, except for the silent buzzing of the laptop, before Bryan spoke up._

_"He cancelled didn't he?"_

_It was a while before Tala nodded. They both lay there in silence until Bryan's phone rang and his mom asked for him to come home._

_(FLASHBACK - End)_

* * *

"Tala, buddy. What'sup?" The redhead blinked as he looked up from where he was sleeping, head lying on a library desk, his textbook page scrunched up as his icy blue eyes met Spencer's light blue ones.

The redhead smiled politely as he got up, stretching his back. He blinked as he took in his surroundings. Checking his watch, he realized it had gotten late into Friday Afternoon. He must've fallen asleep studying for his Math test. Spencer just nodded, smiling softly before patting his shoulder as he walked away.

Tala got up, packing everything up in his bag, squeezing bundles of assignments and sheets into the front pocket as his phone buzzed.

He wondered what Max and Takao would be doing right now, probably consuming Cheesecake or something of the sort at an inhumane speed and bothering customers at the Cafe. Tala snorted, smiling slightly at the thought of the two dorks he called his best friends.

He glanced at the screen and recognized it as Hilary's number.

_I am so mad. Not enough words. fuck Kai Hiwatari. hope he gets run over - Hilary_

_Do I want to ask? :P - Tala_

_We have all day, slut. You're coming over for lunch right now. Haven't seen you all day. We have lots to talk about. Party tonight! Also. How's Bryan. Getting an A? ;) - Hilary_

_As long as I don't have to pretend to be your boyfriend for your Mom. And. That depends. How's Johnny, Tachibana? - Tala_

_FDKLSHGLHGDGLDKGKDHG - Hilary_

_...Hil? - Tala_

_...Did I just break you? - Tala_

* * *

**AUTHORS END NOTES:** So this is a little short. But yeah, bare with me. Also a few things, updates are a little slow because I'm having finals but I'm still writing. Hence this update. :) Please review and let me know! Reviews make me write faster. Love you all!

 **Story Points:** So I have a bit of a habit of pairing the four up the ENTIRE chapter and its something I want to get out of. They're so easy to write together so I tried to diverse it out a bit for plot's sake or else this story will take a billion chapters. Lots of new new characters in this one starting with  **Miguel, Emily, Mathilda, Raul, Julia, Brooklyn, Daichi** and  **Zeo.** Beyblade has such a huge array of characters and it really helps. Because I hate OC's. Keep an eye out for Miguel. ;) Also, I think this chapter came out more Hilary centric then I thought I would. Now a couple of questions for some reviewers:

1\. I know. Takao can come off as too awkward. But my depiction of him is the same loudmouth sassy goofy kid in the show but with the people he's friends with. He finds it very hard to initiate friendship/relationships. So that's my portrayal of him. He certainly struggles socially as opposed to Rei, Max or Hilary. I kind of like the parallel of him and Kai, SPEAKING OF..

2\. I am so sorry for Kai/Takao. Its the main pairing. IT IS. And yet minimal scenes. But we're getting there. Kai is starting to get lines. And maybe I'll have the guts to write a non Tala-Max-Hilary-Takao POV. What do you think?

 **Questions for Readers:** 1) Do you want a non Tala-Max-Hilary-Takao POV? From lets say Michael, Rei, or Kai's POV? Or even Bryan. 2) Which character arc were you/are you most interested out of the four main kids? 3) Do you think the relationships are being developed organically?

**Author's Note:**

> Author's end notes: So I decided to submit this nonsense up. Tell me what this looks like? Review and tell your friends to read this too? I love reviews. I really appreicate it guys. Do you like this version more than the last?
> 
> Who are your favorite characters? Awkward Hipster Music Lover Takao, Artistic Bubbly Max, Studious uptight dramatic Tala or Perfectionist Girl in Love but in Denail Hilary?
> 
> I know this chapter didn't really focus on Kai or Rei a lot, briefly mentioned Michael and Bryan. And left little to no mention of Hiro Johnny and Kenny. But by second chapter it'll be more around Rei and Kai.
> 
> Chapter 2: Rei and Kai's epic broship, Introduction to Hiro, Some forward growth for Tala and Bryan and a sneak at their past, Kenny has more lines, Johnny gets lines, and another Michael/Max scene.
> 
> Because highschool sucks and this has a lot of interlinked complicated relationships, and includes their parents too. Just in case this gets confusing:
> 
> Takao and Kai take Physics Chemistry Biology and Math and want to pursue Medicine, Rei takes Physics Chemistry and Math with Lee and wants to go into Engineering, Max takes Physics Art Math and Chemistry and is looking into Architecture, Tala is taking English because he wants to be a Writer but because of his Dad's pressure into being an Accountant he takes Math and Economics, Hilary is taking English MassComm and Thinking Skills with Kenny and Chemistry as a bonus and aspires to go into Event Management.
> 
> Hiro is in his final years of medical school. Max's mom and Tala's dad are coworkers and work under Kai's grandfather who is the chief of surgery. Max's Dad owns a Cafe where Takao works part time. Tala's mom left them when he was five. Hilary's dad is a Banker and her mom is unemployed. Kai's Dad is a successful CEO and Ray's parents like Takao's are dead and his guardian is his Uncle and he lives with Lee and Mariah. Takao and Hilary grew up together whilst Max and Tala knew each other because of their parents. Two groups met when Takao started working for Max's father.
> 
> Rei is in the track team and head of the Photography Club, Hilary is Class President and Editor of the Magazine The Beetle whilst Kenny is Editor in Chief and Max's neighbour. Kai is Student Body President and Football Captain, Michael is a star Baseball player. Bryan Spencer and Tala are good friends. Hilary's mom wants Tala and Hilary to be together. She doesn't know he's gay. Kai and Hilary are oranizing Fund Raiser.
> 
> UHHH. Yeah. So this is super messed up. Ive got all these eleven kids fleshed out a bit in their background so its difficult to translate it onto this story. So if it gets confusing just ask me or uh read this recap ^ of sorts I'll post at the end of every chapter. Any questions, feel free to ask me.
> 
> Please read and review. (:


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